Lent is a solemn observation with a focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for six weeks leading up to Passion Week and Easter. It is generally observed by Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions. For those who do not formally observe this intense time of focus on these three pillars of the Lenten season, I believe it would be correct for me to say that you hope to live a life that reflects them daily.
When I was young, all I knew of lent was that it was as a time of fasting – giving up chocolate, Fish Fry Fridays, and waiting for Easter so that I could gorge myself in a basket full of chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps. Boy did I get that wrong! As an adult, I now see what Lent truly represents to those who observe it and I’m sorry I didn’t recognize it as the devotion to Christian living it ought to reflect in a believer's life.
I recently received an email from a friend who shared that lent is a time to practice all of the principles above. That simply means there’s not a “pick one and go” option. To me it seems as though prayer and fasting are the easier ones to practice as they are predominantly inward actions that we can do in our secret place, while almsgiving stretches individuals to look outside of themselves and sometimes becomes something we choose to overlook, or we simply find excuses to avoid it.
As followers of Christ, we trust in His sacrifice on the cross to save us - the sacrifice that is celebrated on Easter Sunday. We also live lives revealing that we are being transformed into the image of Christ. One way we reflect Jesus is by serving those who are poor and needy, as we are called to do.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:31-40