Following God’s promise in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving
by Sister Sally Ann Brickner
Standing on the banks of a tributary of Rio Magdalena in Colombia, South America, I gazed with awe at a densely star-studded sky. Countless stars created a blanket of light reflecting back on the small community that struggled to maintain their claim to the oil-rich lands on which we stood. I was with Christian Peacemaker Teams (now known as Community Peacemaker Teams) who walked in solidarity with them.
I recalled that phenomenal starry night as I read this Sunday’s passage from the Book of Genesis. I pictured Abram looking to the same heavenly glory and hearing God’s promise of countless descendants, lands and possessions. After a long day of prayer before the sacrificial offerings which he had prepared, Abram experienced God sealing the promise with smoke and flame in a covenantal relationship.
The Gospel of Luke relates a key event in the life of Christ, His Transfiguration. Luke situates the event about a week after the feeding of 5,000 people. Jesus, he writes, ascended a mountain with His three intimate friends and, while wrapped in prayer, was transfigured before them. The disciples saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus about His mission in Jerusalem. Shrouded in a cloud, the disciples heard God proclaim, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to Him!”
God made a covenant with Abram, promising that he would be blessed with limitless progeny in a land God would give him and his descendants. God also spoke to Peter, James and John reassuring words that Jesus whom they followed was God’s own beloved Son whose voice they should heed. In each instance of the Old and New Testaments, God establishes a covenantal relationship with those who have been chosen.
During our Lenten journey we follow Jesus more closely through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Through these sacred actions may our covenantal relationship be strengthened as God renews and transforms us:
- Through prayer: alone and silent before God, the Light within our souls grows brighter.
- Through fasting: emptying ourselves of earthly pursuits, God’s Spirit fills our being.
- Through almsgiving: sharing our time, talent and treasure, Jesus nourishes us with His own Body and Blood.
Each day of our Lenten Journey as Pilgrims of Hope, may we allow the Refiner’s Fire to work within and among us to the glory of God!
I like the way you brought it all together in your concluding points around prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.