Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks -
to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor,
to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin?Isaiah 58:6-7
During this season of Lent, it is good to hear from the prophets frequently. They were the voice of God during some trying times for God’s people. They are a voice during these trying times.
Too often the Church gets caught up in the fasts of Lent and the rituals of the season and misses the point of it all. All of the fasting and abstinence, the penance and the acts of contrition, are to fix us personally, but are meant to remind us of right relationships. Right relationships with God and with our neighbors.
Lent is God’s gift to us. Forty days of formation and transformation into persons who are equipped to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, clothing to the naked, compassion to the poor, and reconciliation within our families.
Forty days of fasting and lenten observance, not just for our own good, but for the good of our commmunities, and for those who are in need.
A prayer:
God of love,
turn our hearts to your ways;
and give us peace. Amen.