Take up the duty of prayer
Prayer is another huge point for action in this holy season. As demanded of every moment of our lives, we ought to stay in contact with God, our source. Since it is in him, we live, and move, and have our being, we do well not lose to contact with him, so that our sustenance may be certain. That consistent communication with God is prayer. The famous words of St. Augustine, tell us something about this. He said, “for you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” In other words, that which gives meaning and purpose to the yearning of the human heart is its deep connection to the divine. This is best achieved through prayer; talking to God.
Imitating Jesus in his forty days of staying apart in the desert where he fasted and prayed, in view of his public ministry, we also should be inspired to seek the face of God in prayer. In a simple sense, if Jesus prayed, who are we not to pray? Yet, in a more profound and significant sense, prayer is a dialogue by which we speak to God and also listen to him. It is, therefore, a call to duty for our own benefit, for we realize how dear we are to God and how willing he is to carry us as a father. If we try and take up that duty, especially in this season of grace, we shall have immense joy and strength.
Decide to help the poor
Almsgiving is an important action point for the season of Lent. What we keep away in fasting, we are encouraged to share with the poor and the have-nots. This should not be forced on anyone. It should come from the heart. Also, as the Lord noted while teaching about giving, it should be done without showing off. Meanwhile, it is not until one has enough to eat, drink, or spend that he has to remember to share with the poor. Even out of the little one possesses, it is possible to spare something for the poor. This is where it becomes a real conscious decision to do this adequately.
Amidst the complexity of choices around us, especially considering our own needs, it is easier to say that, why would I want to help anyone? Faced with the reality that there is no one who is not in need of something, we may easily give the excuse that what we have is not enough, let alone to have something to share. We create territorial boundaries in our minds that defend our choices. So, we say, I need this too, I need that too. What have I left to share? The action of giving alms, helping the poor, must come from within us. We must make that decision, in consonance with the invitation of the Lord, with whom we journey in this season. He who did not hold back his own life for our salvation invites us to hold nothing back from those in need.
Check up on your conscience
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the conscience is that law which man has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. The voice which calls him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil. A law inscribed in man’s heart by God. It is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary, a place where he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths (cf. CCC 1776). In other words, as generally described, the conscience is “a judgment of reason by which a person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.” This suggests that we did not just happen. We were created by God. Further still, he did not abandon us to our whims and caprices. He helps to guide our consciousness through the strength of the conscience. Despite the presence of the conscience and the beauty of its duty in helping us to decide to do good and avoid evil, the awareness of free will stares us in the face.
There, we are faced with the contest of either staying with the demands of the conscience, which require deep thinking and self-denial, and the choice to be simplistic and superficial. We may choose to avoid the pain of being guided by this judgment of reason because, as expected, engaging with the conscience is more demanding than just following the path of painless decisions. More still, as we live in a world that promotes free choices and makes the conscience look like an imposition, it is necessary to check up on one’s conscience. In other words, we need to engage more with our conscience to keep it active and to make it do its work. This will make Lent and, indeed, our entire life worth its meaning.
Visit the Blessed Sacrament
As recorded in the gospel according to Matthew, the Lord in his final words to the disciples, promised to be with them always, to the end of time. These words were a part of the evangelical injunction in which he instructed them to go and baptize and make disciples of the nations. Thus, he promised his presence with them. This is somewhat a paradox, though, for how can one go and yet remain. But it is best understood in the context of another injunction, the eucharistic injunction, in which he commanded the disciples, “do this in memory of me.” Here, he gave them his own very flesh and blood. He actualized his presence in his body and blood, soul, and divinity. Hence, he fulfils his promise to be present with them both physically and spiritually. In the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we behold the Lord.
We see him, we feel him, we touch him, we taste him. Even after we receive the Lord sacramentally, we are able to stay in communion with him through our visit and adoration. The trajectory goes thus, reception – union – adoration. When we strive to do this, we behold the Lord, we speak with him, we listen to him, and we carry him in us. One of the great benefits that comes from this is that amidst the noise around us, we are able to connect and communicate with the still small voice of the Master. The joy is that the more we become conscious of the Lord’s presence with us, we grow too in power and competence to love authentically. The will to do good and avoid evil grows is us.
• Rev. Fr. Martin Badejo is a Priest of Catholic Diocese of Oyo.
