Invitation to Prayer

“Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness” (Psalm 51: 3)

Reflection: Lent is not a time to sit idle and wait for God to act. It is a time of spiritual urgency. The prophet Joel exclaims, “Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; gather the people!” The Lord has indeed taken the initiative as he calls out to us, “Return to me with your whole heart,” but it is up to each one of us to respond to this invitation.

Each year we are blessed with the gift of this holy season to examine our lives, root out from them that which is not of God, and allow ourselves to be more conformed to the goodness for which he created us. Jesus himself encouraged his disciples to practice the spiritual works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Both then and now, these disciplines help us to be less focused on ourselves and more committed to God and to loving others as he does.

Prayer is an antidote to pride, because through prayer we contemplate God and his ways rather than our own. Fasting is an antidote to sensuality, because we intentionally set aside even legitimate pleasures that we find in this life, knowing that our ultimate fulfillment is in heaven. Almsgiving is an antidote to vanity, because it teaches us to think more of others and their good rather than remaining focused only on ourselves.

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, then, make the likeness of God shine more clearly from our lives. May he grant us that grace, to learn to live more like him during these forty days, to better reflect his image and likeness to a world in need of his presence. In so doing we more perfectly become who he created us to be.

Prayer: Lord, as I embark on this spiritual campaign of forty days, help me to convert my heart more and more to you, not so as to be noticed by others but solely for love of you who have given everything for love of me.

Reflection taken from: https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com