Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,
Dare I say it, Lent is upon us. Don’t let Ash Wednesday catch you flat-footed, but already be thinking about the three pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I would like to connect them with the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love.
Prayer—Faith: For Christians, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). That is, faith gives us the whole picture of reality, over and above what we know through human nature. But faith needs prayer to be sustained. Simply put, prayer means to live in the presence of God, or to live in relationship with God. We have the tendency to live “independently” and then to set aside periods of time for God. But, as St. Paul says, “pray constantly” (1 Thes. 5:17). This Lent, don’t just set aside more time for formal prayer, which is good; rather, focus on living in relationship with God throughout the day. He pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts constantly, but we need to become more aware of that.
Fasting-Hope: Most of the spiritual life has to do with what we are attached to, whether spiritual realities or earthly ones. Our Lenten fasting requires us to see what we are attached to in unhealthy, disordered ways. To live the virtue of hope means that we seek our ultimate fulfillment from God. Hope frees us to receive our life from God and to then to use the good things of this world in a temperate way. Hope allows us to wait in patience for God’s gifts, rather than grasping for things possessively. As we fast this Lent, let’s make sure that our detachment from earthly goods leads us to depend more on what God gives us
Almsgiving-Love: This season calls us to be active in charity towards the poor and underprivileged. Are we aware of the needs of others or are we too self-focused? Love is the virtue that makes us go out of ourselves in attention to and service of others. Sometimes these “others” are the very people we live with, as St. Teresa of Calcutta often reminded us. Love is essentially self-gift. When we practice almsgiving, we’re not just called to give what we have, as in writing a check to a charity; rather, we are called to give of ourselves or to sacrifice our time and energy for the good of others. Find a way to do almsgiving this Lent which embodies love, a true gift of ourselves for those in need.
Finally, faith, hope and love are the virtues that ground us in Christ. Without them, we live at a distance from Christ. Lent should be a time of returning. Where to? To Christ, who is our life.
In Christ,
Fr. Dave
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