The three main pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah teaches us about the kind of fasting that the Lord honors. In the reading, the Lord speaking through the Prophet Isaiah says that if you fast yet at the same time go on and mistreat your workers, underpay them, quarrel, gossip about others, fight other people – what kind of fast is that? How do you expect Me to honor your fast?
Then the Lord goes on to describe the kind of fasting He honors – Let the oppressed go free, break every yoke, share your bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless, and dress the poor. With such practices – you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry, and the Lord will say - Here I am for you (Isaiah 58:9).
The attitudes and practices described by God in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, are what are echoed in Mathew 25:31-46 – that paint for us the scene of the Last Judgement
Then the king will say to those at His right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you gave Me clothing.'
We live in a world of paradoxes:
- Where there is enough food for everyone but only a few can access it – where they can eat and throw away so much of it yet there are people starving elsewhere.
- We live in a world where some people have so much clothing that they can spend five years without ever wearing it at all, yet in some places people barely have anything to wear.
- We live in an age where there is so much financial wealth, yet people are tightly and heavily yoked with debts by banks, colleges, and credit card companies.
- We live in an age where a country like Rwanda is 94% Christian and practicing, yet in 1994 the same Christians descended on their neighbors and left 1 million people dead.
For Reflection and Prayer
Today is a good day for us to ask ourselves, especially in this season of Lent – In what ways can I be more congruent in the faith I profess and the practice of it in my everyday life? It is a good day for us to ask ourselves – What can I do more to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless, to clothe the naked, and to free those yoked in my heart?
May the Lord give us the grace we need that this season of Lent will be a time of renewal for us. Amen.
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