Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation. And yet, churches were crowded as people celebrated Mass and received ashes. These are always among the best-attended liturgies of the year.
It’s beautiful to see. As a priest, I am moved to look out from the altar and see so many people there, wanting to be there to start Lent. I think it speaks to our innermost desire to draw ever closer to God.
I started thinking about Lent during the recent snowstorm and bitter cold that closed schools and roads, forcing us inside. It was a slower, quieter time, a respite of sorts. The different rhythm of life gave me a chance to think about what’s most important – my relationship with God and with others.
St. Augustine famously wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” In many ways, I think that sums up the goal of Lent.
The Church, through Jesus in Scripture, emphasizes three tools to help us rest in the Lord as we repent and seek to love God and our neighbor more deeply. On Ash Wednesday, the readings spoke of these three simple but poignant tools.
In the Gospel (Matthew 6) that day, Jesus tells us about the importance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He tells us that we are to do each of those quietly, not for the praise of others.
Prayer can take many forms. I like to keep it simple and try to give the Lord more quiet time every day. I get distracted, but I think it’s important to ask: Did I quiet the world's noise and take time today to talk to the Lord? And did I give the Lord time – and quiet – to talk to me?
There are many other prayers we can say in quiet time or even on the go, such as the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, attending Daily Mass, and more. All these help us raise our “mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God,” as the Catechism defines prayer. (Paragraph 2559)
Fasting can also take many forms. The Church prescribes fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but we are encouraged to add other fasts. You may have given up chocolate, snacks, alcohol, or other common Lenten fasts. Those are great and help our self-discipline and our understanding of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Can you also consider fasting from behaviors that might thwart your growth in Jesus? Maybe you could watch less television and use that time in prayer. Perhaps get up a little earlier and spend extra time with God or attend Daily Mass. We could all try to fast from judgment, impatience, gossip, and more.
Pope Leo gave us a great example of this when he encouraged all of us to fast from hurtful words and damaging language. He called on us to “disarm” our speech and listen better.
Almsgiving invites us to reflect on who among us needs our help. It can mean reaching out to people in your own community, like neighbors who helped shovel out other neighbors during the worst of the snowstorm. Others picked up groceries or ran essential errands for those who couldn’t get out. That’s loving service to our neighbors.
Almsgiving can also mean volunteering with Catholic Charities or other organizations. It can be supporting the archdiocese’s Annual Catholic Services Appeal or giving to other charities that do great work and are responsible stewards of your donations.
It may sound strange, but I love Lent and always feel stronger in my relationship with the Lord, come the great celebration of Easter. I like the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. I like the Scriptures at Daily and Sunday Mass. I like the extra opportunities available to us, like Stations of the Cross, more time in Adoration, Lenten retreats, special programs in our parishes, Penance services, and much more.
I pray that your Lent is off to a great start. If it is not, or you simply want to do more, it’s never too late. God is waiting with open arms.
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us stay focused on God as we journey towards the glory of Easter and, ultimately, eternity with the God who created us and loves us more than we can ever understand.
(Msgr. John Enzler serves as the mission advocate of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a chaplain at his alma mater, Saint John’s College High School in Washington. He writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
