On Ash Wednesday, the gospel of the day described three principle parts of our Lenten observance: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. While we usually think of Lent in terms of fasting (as in school we always asked one another, “What are you giving up for Lent?”), these three are not separate. If Lent were a multiple choice question, the answer would not be “A) prayer,” “B) fasting” or “C) almsgiving.” The correct answer would be “D) all of the above,” for the three of them support one another. This week and for the next two weeks, however, we are going to separate these three pillars of Lent for the purpose of treating them individually.
We start with prayer, not only because it is listed first in that gospel. Prayer is our communication with God. It is rich enough to describe in many ways, including the definition many of us memorized about “the lifting of our minds and hearts to God.” My personal favorite view of prayer is the simplest – it is a conversation with God. Conversation happens on many levels, from asking a stranger we meet on the street for the time of day through the intimate talk of husband and wife. For a relationship to achieve that level of intimacy, though, communication is necessary. So prayer, our communication with God, brings us to that deeper level of faith.
That prayer, then, sets the tone for our other Lenten observances. The temptation is to fill our Lent with things we do or the things we give up. We judge our Lent by what we accomplish, with the danger that we may leave God out of the picture. By making prayer the foundation of the season, we ask God to help us see our fasting and almsgiving as something more than a superficial activity that we achieve or endure. They become the concrete expressions of the love that grows with the conversation of prayer. Lent, then, becomes a time for God to “romance” us with His perfect love and call us to respond more deeply.
The problem is that prayer is one of the easiest parts of our lives to overlook. We may begin with a resolution that we are going to spend time each day in prayer. Then we get up and look at the list of things we have to do. If we neglect part of our jobs, the boss will complain. If we do not take time to prepare dinner or do the laundry, our families will complain. But if we push prayer aside, God does not strike us with a bolt of lightning to get our attention. Yet if we take time for prayer, it is so much easier to trust in God’s help and to keep our priorities in order. When we leave God out of the picture, the other things we have to get done become much more of a burden. As Pope St. John Paul used to say, “If you are too busy for prayer, you are too busy.” So Lent becomes a time for each of us to stop and ask if we have made a serious effort to set aside time for prayer each day. May this Lent bring each of us closer to God through the prayers of our minds and hearts.
Father H
