“Welcome To The Season Of Lent!”

“Welcome To The Season Of Lent!”(Mt.6:16-21).
Today Ash Wednesday we receive ash on our foreheads to mark the beginning of the Lent Season. During Lent three things that we should concentrate upon are alms giving, prayer and fasting.
Teaching on these three, Jesus says we should avoid hypocrisy by not making public displays of them.
On Alms: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets…”(Mt.6:1-2).
On prayer: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men…But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…”(Mt.6:5-8).
And on Fasting: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men that they are fasting…But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Our business is with heaven when we give to the needy, when we pray and when we fast. We should not make public displays of our alms, our prayers and fasting. We shouldn’t do them to impress people. We should do them for our Father in heaven to see and appreciate.
By so doing we are storing up for ourselves “treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal…”
My friend, if you want to observe a fast during this season, think about this: The kind of fast God wants is for you “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke…to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter,” cloth the naked and not turn away your own flesh and blood.
It is only then that “you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”(Is.58:6-9).
Prayer: Holy Spirit help position me to walk through the season of Lent doing what the Lord requires of me. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev. Babila Fochang.