The emphasis of Lent season is that of repentance, sacrifice and conversion. The Gospel, therefore, gives three practices which must be done: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Jesus said: "when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites," "when you fast, do not look gloomy," "when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing" (Mt 6:5, 16, 3, respectively). In a most profound way, the three spiritual exercises identified by Jesus are directed toward the nurturing of relationships.
The first practice is prayer, our constant communication with God. This is of prime importance in our Christian life so that we can focus our direction and goal towards our heavenly destination.Prayer, that process of listening to and responding to God's daily call, sustains and nurtures our relationship with our triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Without prayer, personal and communal, this relationship is diminished, sometimes to the point of complete silence on our part. Every day the Spirit of Jesus invites us to enter into that serious conversion that leads to blessed communion.
And this is what the second practice is all about: fasting. It is a form of sacrifice so that we will learn to control our desires by the practice of self-denial. At the same time, fasting helps us feel the pain and the suffering of the poor and the hungry, thereby making us more compassionate and sensitive to their needs. Fasting, however, is not only abstaining from food, but also from any sinful activities and desires and all unhealthy forms of entertainment and harmful vices.
But prayer and fasting are not enough. In fact, God said through Isaiah that the fasting He desires is helping the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, granting liberty to captives and all other corporal acts of mercy. Fasting and prayer, therefore, become more pleasing in the eyes of God when we come to the aid of our needy brothers and sisters.
This is the third practice: almsgiving. It is not just giving alms. It is really about extending our helping hand to anybody who needs our help, especially the poor, the sick, the orphans and the destitute. To be a disciple of Christ means to live a life of charity. To be a disciple of Jesus is to live a life of stewardship, generously giving of our time, talent, and treasure.
At the heart of all penance is the call to conversion. Jesus' imperative "Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk 1:15) makes explicit this connection between authentic discipleship and penitential discipline. Discipleship, our following of Jesus, embraces discipline, a firm commitment to do whatever is demanded in furthering God's kingdom. Viewed in this way, the virtue of penance is not optional, just as weeding a garden is not optional for a responsible caretaker. The gardener is concerned with a bountiful harvest; the disciple is concerned about greater conformity to the person of Jesus.
If we are serious about embracing the penitential discipline that is rooted in the call to discipleship, then we will identify specific times and places for prayer, penance, and works of charity. Growth in spiritual maturity demands a certain level of specificity, for it shows that we take seriously God's call to discipline and are willing to hold ourselves accountable. In our Catholic tradition we specify certain days and seasons for special works of penance: Fridays, on which we commemorate the death of the Lord, and Lent, our forty days of preparation for the Easter mysteries.
Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.