The Lenten pillar of prayer helps us connect with God

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As disciples of Christ, Catholics are called to share in his death and resurrection through which will come the salvation of the world. The Lenten season helps us accept our own cross, renew our faith and turn our hearts more fully toward doing the will of the Father.

To help us in our Lenten practice, the Church offers a trio of practices on which to focus: prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which together are known as the three pillars of Lent.

The Lenten fast requires all persons age 14 and older to abstain from eating all meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) on Ash Wednesdays and each Friday during the Lenten season, unless a specific Friday is a solemnity. In addition, all Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 must fast – eating only one full meal and two lesser meals, with no snacks – on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Almsgiving, or giving money or goods to the poor, is “an act of penance or fraternal charity” that is “a work of justice pleasing to the Lord,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states; among the Church ministries for which collections are taken up during Lent are the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the National Black and Indian Mission, Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl and the Holy Land.

While the proscriptions for Lenten fasting are strictly spelled out, and Catholics are asked to give alms according to their circumstances, their Lenten prayer can take many forms.

Prayer helps us live a life of faith. In prayer we encounter the Father’s love. The Catholic Church has a rich tradition of prayer, which St. John Damascene called the unveiling of one’s mind before God.

“God has always called people to prayer,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, noting the numerous examples of prayer recorded in the Old Testament and then “the perfect model of prayer” of Jesus.

“Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with a purified heart, with lively and persevering faith, with filial boldness,” the Catechism states. “He calls them to vigilance and invites them to present their petitions to God in his name.”

The Church offers three “expressions of prayer:” vocal prayer, such as the Our Father; meditation, which is a quest to confront ourselves in what we read; and contemplative prayer, which focuses our attention on the Lord – “I look at him and he looks at me,” as a peasant told St. John Vianney about the time he spent kneeling in front of the tabernacle.

We also have various forms of prayer: blessing and adoration, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, contrition and praise. Each form helps us deepen our relationship with God.

Lent is a season during which we focus on renewing that relationship, and the conversations we have with God during prayer are encounters that bring our human will into union with Christ.