Fasting, Almsgiving, and Prayer

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ: The three great works of Lent – fasting, almsgiving, and prayer – break us from the bonds of sin and allow us to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is our comfort and our salvation. In today’s reading (Isaiah 49:8-15), we learn that God is always there for us. No matter what we do, he is there to comfort us. “For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.” “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of he womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” God’s love and compassion for us goes very deep, even deeper then the love of a mother for her child. When we hurt ourselves, who do we go to for compassion and mercy – our mom. When we are hurting spiritually and need compassion, we can pray to the Lord. At times, it might seem that he is far away and cannot hear us, but he is always there and always listening. He always loves us like a mom loves her child. Our sacrifices of Lent are a sign of our love for him. Through fasting, we give up earthly food so we can be nourished by the spiritual food of our Lord Jesus Christ; through prayer, we open the lines of communication between us and the Lord to bring God’s arms around us; and through almsgiving, we take God’s arms and we wrap them around those who are less fortunate then us. Lent is time for us to reaffirm our covenant with the Lord. It is a time for us to find comfort in the strength of the cross and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Amen, amen I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.” God answers all our prayers. God heard the cry of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt , so also has he heard the cry of us sinners. He made the ultimate sacrifice on cross so our sins would be forgive. He heard our prayer and answered it. A Simple Prayer “Lord, you love is my treasure. Teach me to walk in faith, and to know that you are always with me, where ever I go.” Yours in Christ Michael Marcon