Lent
Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving
ENT IS USUALLY THE Liturgical Season when most of us begin to rethink our lives with an eye towards reconciliation with God.
It is the time of year when the Church asks us to repent and to reform our behaviour. Some, of course, reject such an idea. Think how many people in today’s world deny sin in general and their own sins in particular. It’s hard to admit our sins; it hurts our pride. But if we close our eyes to the sin in our lives, we don’t see ourselves as sinners and we don’t feel a personal need for Jesus, and if we don’t see a personal need for Jesus, then we are surely lost!
In one of his first letters, St John said: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make a liar out of God…” And that is because God sent His Son for our sins. If we have not sinned, they why did God send his Son to be sacrificed?
Let’s Start With Prayer
Very often when we mention prayer we immediately think of the ‘Our Father’ or ‘Hail Mary’. Think again. Prayer is our contact with God – our letter writing or e-mailing or telephoning or texting. (Texting! Now there is something that has taken over our young people’s time and is a favourite means of communication with their friends. If only they would show such dedication and skill in communicating with their Friend in heaven! If only they would talk to God for just a fraction of the time they spend on their mobile phones it would be enough.)
It’s a Discipline Thing
How can we discipline ourselves to making more time available for prayer during Lent?
· First thing in the morning, last thing at night – talk to God – good morning and be with me through the day, good night and what’s happened; thanks for the good, sorry for the bad; remember the people in your life – family, friends, neighbours – talk to God about them; think of those in need, talk to God on behalf of them, and if you have any time left after that, just be quiet in the presence of God.
· Listen, too. Prayer is not one-way – God responds, but it’s hard for him to overcome noise and frenetic activity, so make some time for quiet and stillness in your day.
· Mass is said to be the perfect prayer and so try to give whole-hearted attention while you are at Mass, and perhaps try to come to one of the week-day Masses during Lent.
· Spend some time visiting the Blessed Sacrament – there is Exposition in our Chapel each Thursday until 11am after morning Mass and in the evening from 7pm to 8pm. Jesus would love to see you. Gift yourself with the time to come and see Him.
· On Fridays during Lent there will be the Stations of the Cross at 7pm. If there is only one thing extra that you can do, try to make it the Stations of the Cross. Come and walk the journey to the Cross with Jesus.
· Reading the Bible and reflecting on what you read in a prayerful way will bring you closer to God, for he is speaking to us in a very direct way in the Gospels in particular. If you can sit down quietly for, say, half-an-hour, you will soon find that communicating with God is easy. The most difficult bit will probably be the being quiet – that is so hard for us in our busy lifestyles. Give yourself a gift, and be quiet!
Fasting
An integral part of Lent for us is to fast. In fact, we have a serious obligation to observe the laws of Fast and Abstinence. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday we must Fast – only one full meal is permitted – and we must abstain from eating meat. The other Fridays in Lent are days of self-denial and throughout Lent we should considerably reduce the amount of food we eat.
Fasting applies to those between the ages of 18 and 60, while the law of abstinence applies to those who have reached the age of 14.
So, how can we discipline our appetites?
· Remembering that we can only have one full meal, decide, as a family if possible, which meal that will be. Make it a focus, eating together, no TV or other interruptions, share your stories of the day, the difficulties experienced with fasting, and the achievements. Help one another with encouragement. Perhaps make a note of successful efforts and also where there has been failure, so that you can try harder the next day.
· Fasting and abstinence is not only about food, of course. While our first thoughts are often about giving up chocolates, cakes, alcohol or smoking, we can also try to watch less TV, perhaps putting something of a spiritual nature in its place – prayer or reading - use the car less, trying not to swear (if we do, that is) and giving up some form of amusement like the cinema or Bingo, perhaps.
· Each individual needs to look at his or her own life and determine where a disciplined approach is needed and then try to maintain that discipline.
As a note for reference, the Fridays of the year outside of Lent are designated as days of penance, but each individual may substitute for the traditional abstinence from meat some other practice of voluntary self-denial as penance.
Almsgiving
Almsgiving is a call to be more responsive to the cries of the hungry and needy. We have a duty as Christians to help those in need, but Lent is a time to focus our attention and make it part of our Lenten disci-pline.
When we fast during Lent we obviously save money. This should not be set aside so that we can over-indulge when we come to Easter! No! What we save we give to those in need. This can be done by supporting the CAFOD Family Fast Day, for which there are special envelopes, by having a collection box at home and putting money into it regularly throughout Lent, or using an envelope to collect what is saved and bringing it to the Church at the end of Lent marked ‘For the Poor’. If we were to fast and benefit ourselves we would not be entering into the spirit of Lent.
As well as giving money, we should consider how we can give our time – by helping somebody who is poor, sick, old or lonely.
Lent, fasting, almsgiving, prayer and penance are important because they help us to imitate Christ, to respond to his call to take up the cross, to participate in the suffering of Our Lord, to express our inner conversion and reparation for sin.
There are many suggestions in this Newsletter, but none of them may be appropriate to you. It is up to each of us to decide for ourselves how best to make Lent meaningful. The important thing is that we do something in each of the three areas of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Lent is not a punishment, it is a gift to help us. Accept it gratefully.
LENT 2009
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Ash Wednesday – 25th February
A day of Fast and Abstinence
CAFOD Family Fast Day
Friday, 6th March
Take an envelope for what you save
Each Friday of Lent
A day of self-denial
Good Friday – 10th April
A day of Fast and Abstinence