I was greeting our parishioners and visitors before Mass on Ash Wednesday when a friend approached me and shared the fact that she has a number of booklets that she uses for prayer during Lent, and that it is hard to fit everything in. I told her that I understood, because I have often had that feeling myself! Right in that moment, I came to the conclusion that one of my Lenten “fasting” activities would be giving up on trying to fit more and more into each day of Lent. Instead, I’d focus on the “Lent Quest” activity of visiting the Eucharistic Miracles displays at our parishes, and then, I’d take the time that is freed up by not doing more, and more, to pause, take a breath, and enter into contemplative prayer.
Contemplative prayer is the practice of sitting in the presence of God and just being. Imagine sitting in the presence of a friend or loved one, and just sitting in that mutual sharing of time and space… without words. You feel the presence and the love of that person, and they feel yours. The same awareness is what we focus on, in regard to our relationship with God, in contemplative prayer. As it has been said, “I look at Him, and He looks at me.”
So, one of the ways that I am “fasting” is by freeing up time to enter into a type of prayer that can create a space for recognizing God’s presence, thus, my fasting will support my prayer (two pillars of Lent). We are still in the early days of Lent. What are you doing? Is there something more that will enrich your faith, or maybe you’re like me, and you can benefit by the “less is more” mentality? Whatever you do, may your Lenten practices bring you to a deeper faith, and a greater awareness of God’s love for you.
