As much we anticipate and enjoy a journey to a specific destination, there is great satisfaction and joy in reaching our goal. Many times our journeys take us on side tracks and at times we get lost. Lent is now more than halfway over. This is our time to journey to Easter as individuals and as the Church, the people of God. In a way, Lent is a microcosm of our journey through life seen through the perspective of faith. On the Feast of St. Joseph in the office of readings from the breviary there was a passage from chapter 11 of the letter to the Hebrews that said: “Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.” Later on in this passage it speaks of Abraham, our father in faith and says: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called, and went forth to the place he was to receive as a heritage, he went forth, moreover, not knowing where he was going.” This passage concludes by saying that Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah “died in faith. They did not obtain what had been promised but saw and saluted it from afar. By acknowledging themselves to be strangers and foreigners on earth, they showed that they were seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking back to the place from which they had come, they would have had the opportunity of returning there. But they were searching for a better, a heavenly home. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

We live in a wonderful world technologically. But it is during lent that we look at our lives in this world as people of faith, that is, from a spiritual perspective. How important is God to me? How frequently do I think of him? Do I look forward to being in his presence through prayer, the sacraments and quiet time in church? Do I see him as the center and guiding force in my life? These are serious and probing questions to ponder. How blessed we are to have this season of Lent to focus on them.

During the previous Sundays of Lent I have written about prayer and fasting. The final element in our spiritual growth and nourishment during Lent and each day is good works. Without prayer and fasting, good works are not so much in the forefront of our minds. Our culture so easily diverts our attention to how we can care for, please and entertain ourselves. But true growth as people of faith only takes place when we have a combination of prayer, fasting and good works. They are intricately connected. We really cannot have any one of them in its fullness without the other. Look at how often the scriptures tell us Jesus prayed. He would go to an out of the way place to spend time in prayer with his Father. One of the most powerful places we see him praying is in the garden the night before he died. That was a true prayer from the heart: “Father if it is possible let this cup pass me by. Still let it be as you would have it, not as I” (Matthew 26:19).  As hard as it is for us as human beings to even contemplate these words and then voice them in prayer, it is even more difficult to live them out.

The death of Jesus on the cross was the ultimate good work. It is this act that atoned for our sins, brought us forgiveness for our sins and made entrance into the life of God a real possibility. The prayer of Jesus in the garden was not his first prayer, nor his last. He prayed, spent time in complete union with the Father, and again and again preached the word of God, performed miracles and did good for all people. On the cross he prayed for those who crucified him. All of these were done out of love for us and love for the Father. There was no other motive than unconditional love. Not only does that take prayer, it also takes self denial. In today’s gospel we hear Jesus telling us we have to die to ourselves and live for God. Out of love we make many sacrifices for those we love and some people we really do not even know. But every once in a while a selfish motive for doing this good creeps in or the temptation to walk away and not do the good that is right in front of us. In the book I have been reading and quoting the past few weeks, “Henri Nouwen, A Spirituality of Imperfection,” the author reflects on the thoughts of Nouwen and says, “It would be a mistake to think that communing in and through prayer is a purely interior matter. Prayer, if it is genuine, propels us to move out into the exterior reality of things.” While prayer brings us into the loving, merciful, peaceful presence of God, it also leads us to action, as we seek to live out our faith. Nouwen says, “The closer we come to God in prayer, the more we become aware of....the presence of God’s gifts in the midst of our pains and sorrows. The mystery of the spiritual life is that many events, people and situations that for a long time seemed to inhibit our way to God become ways of our being united more deeply with him.” We must always be careful and attentive in prayer so we can hear the voice of God. We readily ask God for what we want or need and even tell him the way we think things should be. This type of prayer expresses our faith in God’s love and concern. But the other part of prayer is listening to what God is saying to us through our words, thoughts, experiences and the people in our lives. Prayer brings us into God’s life and love and gives us the strength and desire to love as he has loved us. The fruit of prayer and fasting is good works. If they do not lead to good works we are merely going through the motions and will always know there is an emptiness in our lives that cannot be filled otherwise.

In today’s gospel Jesus prays that he will be glorified. He is the antithesis of the human tendency Nouwen exposes in us: “We...like easy victories: growth without crisis, healing without pain, the resurrection with the cross.” Our prayer and fasting will lead us to good works just as they led Jesus to die for us.

Father Walden