Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving
NC Catholics tell why they practice the three disciplines of Lent
By Rich Reece / Pictures by Denmark Photo & Video
Throughout the universal Church, the Season of Lent once again calls Catholics to be renewed in holiness. Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2009 Lenten Letter, urges “every family and Christian community [to] use well this time of Lent, in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor.” There is abundant evidence that this call is being heard, not just during Lent, but continually, by faithful Catholics in the Diocese of Raleigh.
Prayer
“A downpour of rain and grace” inaugurated the apostolate of perpetual Eucharistic adoration at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Wake Forest. Last September, as the Eucharist was brought in an outdoor procession to the church’s Chapel of Jesus the Eternal Priest by the Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, a thunderstorm drenched the participants, including hundreds of Diocesan youth who lined the path with candles they struggled to keep alight. Sixteen-year-old Elliott Baggett, a junior at St. Thomas More Academy and one of a family of adorers at St. Catherine, recalled that evening, especially the sense of solidarity as friends whose candles were extinguished relit their candles from those of friends.
Elliott and his brother Jonathon, a second-year seminarian for the Diocese of Raleigh, both spoke about the importance of Eucharistic adoration in their spiritual journeys. “It’s time spent with One who is calling me,” Jonathon explained, and Elliott said, “I would miss the intimacy with Him” if adoration were not available. Smiling, Elliott said, “I don’t like to sit in back. I want to see the Lord, and in the chapel I can be four feet away from Him.”
How does one adore? What does an adorer think about during an hour of silence? Jonathon Baggett begins by simply “being present, allowing silence. Then I may do spiritual reading, or just contemplation. These days I reflect a lot about my vocation, and Who it is who is calling me, and what it is He wants me to do for Him and His people.”
“It depends on the day,” Elliott Baggett says. “One day my mind may be empty, another I may have a lot of thoughts. Sometimes there are rare, great days when I can simply contemplate the Lord. Usually it’s a mix.” Elliott may also use the prayers of the day from the Liturgy of the Hours.
Adorer Dan Henson is 24 years old and engaged to be married. A graduate of Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., where he discovered Eucharistic adoration, he sees time in the chapel as a way of “stopping the busyness. I think about where I’ve been and where I’m going, and listen for divine direction.”
Linda Specter coordinates perpetual adoration at St. Catherine. “This chapel has been such a blessing to us,” she says. More than 600 people have signed up, and the Eucharist has not been unattended for even one hour since that rainy September night. “It’s inspiring,” she says, “to see people who will get up and drive here at two or three in the morning to be with the Lord.” She agrees that there are a variety of ways to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, from contemplation to the Rosary or the Way of the Cross (There are Stations in the chapel.) to spiritual reading.
There is a book in the chapel where worshippers can write petitions, which other adorers are encouraged to read and to pray over. “This brings us together,” Linda explains. Petitions often include healing for sick loved ones, reconciliation within families, even in the country, she says. Especially numerous these days are petitions for employment from victims of the sagging economy.
Another book records “favors granted.” “Faith and prayer bring blessings,” Linda says. “It’s amazing, but it’s been so clear, in the chapel and in our parish.” Some examples from the book:
“My depression was lifted. I feel like myself again. Thank you, Jesus.”
“My husband went to Confession for the first time in forty years. Thank You, Lord!”
Linda looks for an increase in adorers during Lent, “a time when prayer may be on the minds of more people, a time to re-focus on the Lord, but the practice will continue the same as always, as long as the church is here, because Jesus is with us always.”
Fasting
“Fasting,” says Christine Miesowicz, Director of Life Long Learning at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Raleigh, “is about allowing yourself to be transformed by Christ. We pledge our bodies – fasting as Catholics usually understand it, is about our bodies -- so that we may be more available for those in need. So fasting isn’t separate from the other disciplines; it frees us for prayer and almsgiving.”
St. Francis recently hosted a two-day conference, “Hunger No More,” to raise awareness of the problem of hunger locally and globally. Megan Nerz is Director of the Franciscan Coalition, which sponsored the conference. She believes fasting “ indeed leads to the physical sensation of hunger, which prompts us to remember the poor, the hungry and the homeless. But it also humbles us, and lets us bring that humility to service. It helps us to find the compassion we need for the work God says we are to do.”
Christine concurs: “It helps us stand in solidarity with those in need.”
The “Hunger No More” conference was planned for the weekend before Lent to signal a commitment to fasting in the parish that will continue through the Easter season until Pentecost, not only through events like the conference but also liturgically, because, Christine explains, “It is at that Eucharistic table that we are called to act for justice.” The theme for the gathering was “Fasting to Feasting,” and this longer period of faith community awareness will address both.
Another regular Lenten activity at St. Francis is the Friday-night soup supper and prayer. Soup and bread and water are served, Christine explains. “We serve about one hundred families,” she says, “then we move to the church for prayer. This year we are focusing on the Stations of the Cross. We usually have additional families who join us just for the prayer portion.”
Fasting isn’t only about food, Christine continues. “There is a larger understanding of fasting as a spiritual discipline, because there are people who cannot fast. Anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God is up for grabs in fasting.”
Almsgiving
In his Lenten Letter, the Holy Father points out that fasting leads naturally to the third discipline of almsgiving. “Fasting is an aid,” he writes, “to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live… Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother.”
For many, the first thing almsgiving brings to mind is money. And while that’s important, says Msgr. David D. Brockman, Vicar General of the Diocese of Raleigh, almsgiving is a spiritual discipline that stems from so much more. “The Bible reminds us of the value of tithing, giving back to God one-tenth of the blessings we’ve received. That’s normal, our return in thanks to God for all He has done for us. What we do beyond that makes our giving truly sacrificial giving, giving not just out of our means, but out of our excess.
“As Catholics, this spiritual discipline of tithing is one that always leads us not only closer to God, the Source of our blessings, but also to His People, as the resources from tithing and sacrificial giving are used for the mission of Christ in and through His Church.”
Donald Bray, Parish Administrator for St. Patrick Parish in Fayetteville, agrees. "Sacrificial giving of money means I choose to do without something I want or need in order to give to the church or charity. But I believe when you find a person who accepts and lives the Gospel as a way of life, you will find a person who not only practices sacrificial giving, but also is using their time and talents to build God's kingdom.”
Bill and Patti Pollitt, also of St. Patrick, find that stewardship goes beyond giving to “giving up.” Bill Pollitt says that through his work with RCIA, he has come to find the term “period of purification and enlightenment” a “meaningful and motivating description of Lent. When we keep our eyes set on Easter and the promises and commitments encompassed in our Baptism, it is a little easier, at least for me, to see what disciplines need to be honed during this period.”
Bill talks about “doing something specific, in addition to giving. It may be calling someone or sending a card, visiting a shut-in. You have to sit down and ask yourself, ‘Where do I go to find something extra I can do?’”
St. Patrick parishioner and Hispanic Ministry Coordinator Sylvia Espada is reluctant to talk about the various services she and her husband perform whenever they see a need. “You want God to know,” she says, laughing, “but you don’t need to talk about it.” Still she admits that in her ministry she sees so many needs that call her and Nick to respond.
“You can get comfortable,” she says, “just obeying the rules of the Church. But Jesus wants us to do more. And service builds up His Church. People will come because you have helped them. It’s about making a difference in Jesus’ name.”
Sylvia acknowledges that service can be sacrificial. “Some days I feel like I can’t,” she says, “but God gives me strength, and sometimes you receive an unexpected blessing from the person you serve.”
Vince Mescall echoes Sylvia when he talks about almsgiving. “You give money,” he says. “How can we hoard as private treasure everything God freely gives? But that’s not enough.” He sees Lent as a reminder of that truth. In addition to his job as Director of Youth Ministry at St. Patrick, Vince and his wife Sue are involved in Habitat for Humanity and sponsor a child through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. Vince is also in formation for the permanent diaconate. Sue is a public school teacher, and she sees a lot of needs in the course of her work – kids who need book bags or jackets, for example.
“A friend of mine is fond of saying, ‘You can never out-give God,’” Vince says. “No matter how much we’ve given, we have never gone wanting.”