God became flesh, and died on the Cross so that we may not perish, but have life. This is crazy to say the least, and completely life changing if taken seriously. There has never been an ancient event, historically verified, to the extent that the Gospels have been. This fact has completely changed our world, but we have to allow it to change our lives. We make manifest in our lives, this truth during lent through: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

Why Prayer?
     Prayer is essentially our relationship with God. When is the last time you set aside time, in your schedule, to speak to your Father?

     To the world, spending time in the Fathers love can seem like a waste of time. A waste of a resource that could be used to “get ahead”, but to the Catholic this time is essential. These minutes spent speaking with God, prove to be more important than anything else we could do in a day. If God is our priority, then what could be more important?

Why Fasting?
     Fasting is essential to this intimacy with God. Not only do we unite our suffering to his through fasting, but we also become who we were made to be. As Jesus went into the Desert for forty days after being baptized, we too, put out into the desert (Matthew 3:16-17, 4:1). We fast to reorder the things in our lives that are constantly fighting for our attention. It is easy to say that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, but do we act like it?

     How many hours a day do we spend on social media, but can’t find time to pray or go to Mass? What in your life has become more important than your relationship with God?
     
     We know what we ought to do. Nobody feels good after binge watching Netflix, or mindlessly scrolling through social media. These things we do because we want to be happy, but they never satisfy our longings. As St. Benedict XVI cited “Man was created for greatness—for God himself; he was created to be filled by God. But his heart is too small for the greatness to which it is destined. It must be stretched”.

Why Almsgiving?
     As we hear in Timothy “the love of money, is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). This is not because money is inherently evil, money in it of itself is nothing but a means. The love of money however is evil.
           
     Money is often our number one attachment. Since our secular society is so greedy, we do not think of this love of money as being a bad thing. We sympathize with the person who is missing Mass to make more money.
           
     Jesus calls the rich young man to sell all that he has, and follow him. The rich young man, whom Jesus loved, walked away sad (Mark 10: 17-31). He walked away from the God whom created the universe. The God who loved him. The God who created him. All because he was attached to money.
           
     During Lent we reorder our lives and we do this in part by giving away our money to those most in need. Whether it be to the Church (the body of Christ), charitable organizations, or the stranger whom Jesus calls us to feed and clothe.
     The Poor man (lazarus) needed the rich man on earth to provide for him food, but the rich man needed the poor man to get out of hell (Luke 16:19-31). Who is on our doorstep in need of help?
           
 
           
 
 
 “By devoting more time to prayer, we enable our hearts to root out our secret lies and forms of self-deception, and then to find the consolation God offers. He is our Father and he wants us to live life well. Almsgiving sets us free from greed and helps us to regard our neighbor as a brother or sister… Fasting wakes us up. It makes us more attentive to God and our neighbor. It revives our desire to obey God, who alone is capable of satisfying our hunger.” –Pope Francis.