Lenten fast and prayer

The Collect, the prayer at the end of the Introductory Rites of the Mass, can communicate to us so much that is important.  They are instructive.  Catechetical.

The Collect last Sunday, for example, was, “Grant, Almighty God, through the yearly observance of holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects.”  We said “Amen” to that.  And because of our “Amen”, our “So be it”, we committed ourselves to enter the holy season of Lent and to live it fittingly – in fasting, prayer, and the giving of alms.

I have changed the usual order of those three for a reason…

When I was a child – and, I’m afraid, for some time after – I rather went through the motions when I ‘gave up something for Lent’.  It was a goal to be achieved, a target to be met.  I lacked the spiritual understanding that’s so important, and which illustrates why fasting, prayer and almsgiving are so closely aligned.

There’s nothing that heightens our desire for something than not being able to have it, especially when you have denied it to yourself.  And, of course, those moments when you REALLY want to break your Lenten fast are temptations from the Evil One as surely as Our Lord faced in the wilderness.   

But they are also moments of grace.  Those moments remind us of our faith and God’s call to holiness.  They remind us of WHY we are denying ourselves, and that very nudge of the conscience can lead us to turn to our Almighty God in prayer. 

Over time, the practical discipline of fasting and abstaining during lent becomes a spiritual icon for making room for God, and a virtuous circle develops and grows – we more instinctively turn to God in our lives.  But for this to happen, we must be steadfast in our “observance of holy Lent” and our “worthy conduct”.