REFLECTION

Lent in Triplicate

By Father Jack Melito, CM

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Faith, hope, and charity. These samples show how details of knowledge fall into familiar patterns of threes, whether for summary, for convenience, or just for a certain lilt they have. The phenomenon is widespread in our experience: think of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; or Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Another trio, relevant to the season of Lent
and defining its meaning, is this: the spiritual practices of prayer, penance and almsgiving. Jesus, in the Gospel passage for Ash Wednesday, announces all three interrelated items as his expectations for disciples.

Prayer, of course, is a practice for all seasons. It is, St. Vincent has suggested, “a conversation of the soul with GodC9in which God interiorly teaches what it should know and do.” This “prayer of the heart” searches deep within and has a special relevance for Lent, because the one prescription for the season is conversion of heart. This entails a look within to attain self-knowledge, to put oneself in a right relationship with God, to attend to the mode of prayer as Jesus himself taught us, to check the quality and depth of our love for him.

There are some traditional penances still current, like the ancient penitential twins, “prayer and fasting.” These have been modified as prescribed in the law, yet are still valid options. Some penances in the popular imagination are of a restricting kind—“giving up” something—sweets, alcohol, certain foods; or activities like entertainments or any pleasurable activity that one is willing to forego. Some positive actions like frequent attendances at Eucharist or other forms of prayer are still used. Other penances are less material and pertain to interpersonal behaviors, all of them in some way mindful of the other person: welcoming another into your life, especially putting the timid at ease; avoiding sarcastic and biting comments that hurt and alienate others; managing control of an undisciplined temper that would also be off-putting.

Almsgiving, the third of the trio, is an expression of generosity and concern. It is a kind of self-giving, whereby the donor willingly, out of charity or mercy, offers from his resources money or goods to the poor or to a charitable cause. This practice also has a penitential aspect, in that it challenges the person to divest the self of goods and to go out of himself to remember the needy. In addition to giving, almsgiving can also be more than material goods, but rather the gift of time or of oneself—to visit the sick, the lonely, and the homebound; to lend a helping hand by way of labor or physical aid; to run errands. In short, to be a helpful presence in the lives of those in need.

These proposed activities of the Season of Lent—prayer, penance, and almsgiving—are directed toward personal conversion and integration: the prayer in clarifying one’s perspective toward God, self, and neighbor; the penance in reestablishing self-discipline if it has become slack; and the almsgiving for directing one’s concern outward toward others. In its way, the program has its own identity, but it is also preparation offered the faithful for the liturgical participation in the ultimate mysteries of salvation (another trio): the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.