PASTORAL GUIDE TO LENTEN OBSERVANCES
Prayer, Fasting/Abstinence and Almsgiving
INTRODUCTION
The Church is always on constant move to assist her children to be more and more close to God. In the liturgical life of the Church, there are seasons set aside for various reasons so as to enable the community of Christ (the faithful) to come to terms with the reality of the four-last thing in every human life – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. These seasons are being arranged such that, Christ’s coming, His messianic mission, and then Paschal mysteries which culminated with His triumphant resurrection; that gives birth to the Church are being revealed.
Thus, the Church begins her liturgical year with the Solemnity of Christ the King, which launched-in the Advent season, a preparation for the joyful Christmastide. The festivity of this season ends with the Feast of Baptism of our Lord, followed by the first part of the Ordinary Time which ends with the celebration of Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent. Throughout the period of Lent, the faithful are being invited to repentance and reflection on their interior relationship with God, taking cognizance of its three major pillars: Prayer, Fasting/Abstinence and Almsgiving, until Palm Sunday which brings in the spirit of Easter Triduum. This runs through fifty days after Easter Sunday to usher in the second part of the Ordinary Time of the liturgical year until the next Feast of Christ the King.
Consequent upon this narrative, we are going to take a circumspective look into the season of lent which hinges on the tripartite pillars of Prayer, Fasting/Abstinence and Almsgiving. These trio will be extensively explicated employing biblical and ecclesiastical tones to underscore their essence in the sacramental life of the Church. It is hopeful that, this will serve as a pastoral guide to both the ministers and faithful as we are making effort to be fully immersed in the Lenten experience.
FIRST PILLAR: Prayer
Defining Prayer
The season of Lent has prayer as the primary pillar of its observance(s). This act of being in communion with the Divine underscores the source of our strength, as Pope Francis in his General audience of Wednesday, February 10, 2021 stresses the need of prayers among Christians as he avers, “We are fragile beings, but we know how to pray; this is our greatest dignity and it is also our strength.” The Holy Father in his Catechesis on Prayer further reechoed the significance of prayer “as a dialogue with God which meant to embrace the events of each day, in our homes, daily chores or work. All our thoughts and activities should be a part of our daily conversation with the Lord.” This is in consonant with the words of Blaise Paschal in one of his thoughts who said “Human beings are so frail that even a drop of water can destroy us.” (cf. Thoughts, No. 347). This fragility of humanity makes man a beggar before God, as noted by St. Augustine in his sermon.
However, it is against this background that we wish to focus our searchlight on “prayer” as one of the three pillars of Lenten season. Before we proceed, there is need to take a closer look at how the concept “prayer” came into existence. The term “prayer” is derived from the Greek word ευχή, προσευχή and Latin preces which was most frequently used since 2nd century to mean “oratio” which means petition, request or pleading. In its strict sense, it is the filial expression of one’s desire for self and others. This shows that, every prayer made must not necessarily be for oneself only, but it has to be all inclusive. In a wider sense, it is the ascent of the mind to God; or it is speaking with God. These three definitions are found in every age of the Christian Era. (cf. http://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encycloppedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/prayer-theology. Accessed March 4, 2022).
2.2 Catechesis on Prayers
The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a vivid definition of prayer as “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” To buttress this point, St. John Damascene in Defide orth. 3,24:PG 94,1089C is being made reference to when he said “But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will or,” “out of the depths” as the Holy Scripture reaffirmed in Psalm 130:3 “of a humble and contrite heart?” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 2559). This therefore explained, the essence of “humility” as a virtue and foundation of prayer. The very theme our Lord’s presented in the parable of the tax collector and a Pharisee. (cf. Luke 18:9-4). Prayer, has never been monologue in its nature and form, but a dialogue - that is, a conversation between man and God. An instance where man speaks, then wait in patience to hear what the Lord has to say.
In the scholastic era, the definitions of the Fathers and early Church writers were analyzed and retained. St. Thomas, quoting Augustine and John Damascene, defines prayer (oratio) as petition and considers it in this sense in 17 articles of the Summa Theologiae (Summa Theologiae 2a2ae, 83.1–17; 3a, 21.1; In 4 Sent., 15.4.1.1). And in one of his sermons, he described this action in few words saying: “man is a beggar before God.” (St. Augustine, Sermo 56,6,9:PL 38,381.)
This thought of his provoke a fundamental question. How then do we pray? Just like the Apostles put it across to Christ. When one of them asked, as Evangelist Luke recounted: “Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.” The Lord provided the proper pattern of prayer, which is now referred to as “the Lord’s prayer.” (cf. Luke 11:1-4; Matthew 6:5-15). He said to them: When you want to pray say:
“Father hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Exegetically, the above pattern of prayer becomes the crux of all prayers, as it is being revealed in ACTS that is Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication. In the opening line of it, we find the tone of adoring God as the creator, with thanksgiving. Requesting for our daily bread serves as the supplication, with appeal to forgive our trespasses as we forgive others defined the act of contrition.
However, prayer therefore becomes the foundation on which other two pillars of Lenten exercises: fasting/abstinence and almsgiving rested on. For through prayer, energy is being gained, and sets the tempo for every spiritual act. We need to pray so that we may not be carried away with the aura of the moment. Recalling, the scenario where satan came to tempt Jesus. According to Evangelist Luke in his gospel pericope for first Sunday of Lent (Year C), he narrated how Spirit led our Lord into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (cf. Luke 4:1-13). Within the context of the usage, the term “wilderness” symbolizes a tough and discomforted moment in the life of man. It also portrays a time of intensified temptation and spiritual attack; which can only be overcome by the power of prayer. As St. Paul noted: “To show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7). This is manifested in the temptation episode of our Lord in the wilderness. The power of God overshadowed every temptation that came across.
Similarly, in our day-to-day spiritual journey, we have had “wilderness experiences” of one form or the other. Amidst this, the hand of God has been upon us to halt the storm, to speak to the troubling sea “peace be still”. This is the manner in which we are being encouraged to continue holding the fort through prayers.
The Efficacy of Prayers
There are various views towards the notion of prayer. For the Skeptics, they are of the opinion that God has already knows one’s need, then no need for prayers. The Deists on the other hand said that contact with Him is impossible since He is not interested in the world, others find petition an expression of selfishness, and those who find petition an unreasonable attempt on man’s part to bend God’s will to his own. It is against these errors that the Church teaches and debunked these arguments while establishing the fact, that since God knows everything, prayer is not an attempt to inform Him of man’s needs, but rather an act of acknowledgement of one's insufficiency and dependence on God. Furthermore, prayer is not selfishness since one seeks the object of prayer with humble submission to God's will and in obedience to His command (cf. Luke 11: 9 - 13).
Still, the efficaciousness of prayer is being found in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas who was of the opinion that, man cannot attain salvation without graces from God, and many of these according to divine providence are granted only in answer to prayer. (SummaTheologiae 2a2ae, 83.2). Therefore, essence of prayer cannot be relegated as it is a pivotal force which energizes man’s spirituality. It is also an obedient and loving response of a child to his Father, when in distress as the Psalmist said: “Be with me, O! Lord when I am in distress” (Psalm 91:15b). St Augustine further expounded the efficacy of prayer by asserting that; despite the grace obtained from Sacraments and meritorious works, that in the ordinary providence of God, for an adult, prayer of petition is a necessary means of salvation. (Suárez, De oratione 1.28; A. Liguori, 2:428–430, citing St. Augustine and other theologians). In the words of some theologians, one can reduce to three the divine graces that cannot be merited but can be obtained only by prayer of petition: internal efficacious graces, the gift of final perseverance, and external efficacious graces (P. de Letter, "Merit and Prayer in the Life of Grace," Thomist 19 (1956) 472).
In view of the above submission, it is obvious that “prayer” is a necessary means of salvation, since Christ has imposed upon us a precept to pray as Evangelist Luke said: "And he also told them a parable that they must always pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18.1). More so, Evangelist Matthew and St. Paul in their writings bring to our consciousness the need to pray, as Christ commanded us. "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (Matthew 7.7,26.41; Colossians 4.2; Ephesians 6.17–18; 1 Thessalonians 5.17).
The efficacy of prayer is determined by special qualities or features like being devout, attentive, full of confidence and persevering. Therefore, while at prayer, one has to be devoted, focused, and then moved with faith. This brings us to different kinds of prayer, which is determined by circumstance(s).
For effective prayer, one needs to put into consideration circumstances or conditions first before considering the kind of prayer. Among the circumstances or conditions are time, place and posture. There are two major kinds of prayer: Vocal and mental prayers. The duo can be carried out according to the need or circumstance we find ourselves.
Conclusion
Prayer can be characterized as God’s gift to man, covenant as well as communion with God. Each time we pray, let us be aware of these features. It expresses man’s intention before God, even though God as “Omniscience” that is all-knowing knew before hand the intention, cares and worries of His children, there is need to make the intention known. And this act of worship – prayer is expressed in adoration, thanksgiving, propitiation, and petition, which is being summarized in the Lord’s prayer.
Finally, as we keep on voyaging with the Church in this season of Lent, let us put on the helmet of prayer, believing in what we pray for, And God who answers in three ways: Yes (It is time to receive it), No (Not yet time, hold on and persevere) and Wait (for the appropriate time) will certainly be faithful to His Words.
Fr. PiusRalph EFFIONG, SMMM
© The ARCHIVE 13032022
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