Five Days to Lent
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
How Do I Prepare Myself To Enter Into A Fruitful Lenten Season
Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving: A Call to True Conversion
Isaiah 58:6-7:
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke. Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
Grace Prayed For
The grace to fast in a way that leads to love, to embrace prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a path to deeper union with God and service to others.
Reflection
Lent is a season of return—a call to come home to God through the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But Isaiah reminds us that true fasting is not about mere deprivation; it is about liberation. The fast that pleases God is one that loosens the bonds of injustice, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and shelters the homeless. It is a fast of love, a sacrifice that mirrors Christ’s own self-giving.
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are not separate practices; they form a single movement of the heart. Through prayer, we draw near to God and allow Him to reveal the places where we cling too tightly to ourselves. Fasting detaches us from self-indulgence, not as an end in itself, but to make room for love. Almsgiving is the fruit of this inner transformation, a tangible expression of mercy that allows Christ’s light to shine through us.
This Lent, how can we fast in a way that frees? Perhaps it is by fasting from indifference, from comfort that keeps us blind to the suffering of others. Maybe it is through a generosity that costs us something—not just giving from surplus, but from the depths of our hearts. When we fast in this way, we enter into Christ’s own mission: to bring freedom, healing, and restoration to the world.
Growing in Intimacy/Union with Jesus
This passage invites us to enter into the very heart of Christ’s mission. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives, to feed the hungry, and to clothe the naked—not only in a physical sense but spiritually as well. When we embrace the kind of fasting Isaiah describes, we walk in step with Jesus, sharing in His work of mercy and healing. In doing so, we encounter Him in the poor, the oppressed, and the brokenhearted, deepening our intimacy with Him as we become His hands and feet in the world.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post