3 Pillars of Lent
Ash Wednesday is a great opportunity to reflect on the upcoming Lenten season. Catholics use this opportunity to renew and strengthen their faith in God. But more importantly, this season is an opportunity to focus on conversion towards a new way of life. One that is filled with faith and trust in the Lord. Lent is traditionally composed of three parts. I'd like to encourage you to participate in the three aspects which are prayer, fasting, and Almsgiving
Since launching 54 Days of Roses, I have committed to spreading the word that through the Rosary we can strengthen our faith and relationship with God. If you would like to join me on this journey towards spiritual reconnection with God, let us begin with the three pillars. You can learn more about how to manifest the three pillars, not just during Lent but every day of our lives.
Prayer
In this Lenten season, I want to encourage you to make prayer a part of your daily life. Through prayer, we can raise our minds and hearts to God. We can use this season of Lent as the best time to evaluate our day and how much of it is dedicated to God. Through reflection, one might become aware that perhaps prayer may not be an integral part of your daily life as it should. This will open your eyes to find ways in which you can dedicate more of your time to God.
In the past, I've been guilty of saving my prayers right before bed and found that I was rushing through my prayers because I was exhausted from the day's activities. I committed to praying in the mornings this Lenten season. I want God to be the priority each day. I encourage you to make God a priority, too. Perhaps, you can attend Sunday or daily masses online. You can also join a bible study group or pray the rosary daily. Even a simple 10-minute prayer in devotion is powerful and transformative. We can use prayer as a way to get in touch with our sinfulness and confess our sins to our Lord. Let's seek His help through our prayers.
Fasting
Fasting is another important aspect of Lent. Intermittent fasting is all the rage these days. People commit to the fast in order to achieve a certain goal, such as weight loss.
In the spirit of Lent, fasting has a deeper and more spiritual meaning, however. This undertaking is difficult for anyone; no matter if this is your first time or you’ve tried fasting before. It takes a lot of effort and discipline. The act of fasting is a way to offer up to the Lord any food that we choose not to eat. It’s also a concrete reminder of the sacrifices that the Lord has done on our behalf. Fasting is not a selfish endeavor; it’s so that we will have Jesus in our hearts and minds not just during the season, but every day of our lives.
It is also a form of detachment from worldly pleasures. We may look at our relationship with food as our attachment towards the worldly sins: food, sex, and other forms of pleasures.
May we use our hunger as a form of exercise. Every time you hear your stomach rumble, think about how it must have felt for Jesus when he was crucified. It’s a small sacrifice compared to what He went through for us.
Almsgiving
In all of his teachings, there is one thing that God has continually reinforced to us: the act of generosity. Almsgiving is one of the pillars of Lent because it shows our will to put the needs of others before ours.
This aspect of Lent is very important during this time of the pandemic wherein lots of people are suffering. The loss of jobs has also led many people to starve. There is a lot of suffering in the world right now.
To follow God’s will during Lent in this particular aspect, we should seek ways to show generosity to others. If there are homeless people, let us find ways to feed them. Support our favorite charity by sharing what we’ve been blessed with. Solicit donations when we are asked to share. Tip our waiter more than we normally would.
There is no way to escape the poverty that surrounds Us. Let us not be blind to the needs of others. In this time of Lent, we are reminded to share in as much as we are capable of. When sharing, there should also be no distinction. God loves all of us equally. Therefore, we should also give help to everyone regardless of color, faith, and belief.
Conclusion
In this time of Lent, may we seek to rediscover Jesus and renew our faith in Him. May we use this as a chance to deepen our discipleship. Change is always difficult and any sacrifice is equally challenging. However, it is a chance to experience internal conversion. When we fast or give up something during this season, think about what we are going to offer God instead of giving up.
I’d like to encourage everyone to participate in the 3 aspects of Lent. In these next 40 days let us show our commitment to God by living through his example.