Pray, Fast, Give: Ash Wednesday
It is easy to look at the beginning of Lent as a time of sacrifice and suffering, of desolation in the desert. But Lent can also be seen as a time of stripping away that which is keeping us from the love and joy that God intends for us. Pope Francis says, “Lent is a powerful season, a turning point that can foster change and conversion in each of us. We all need to improve, to change for the better.” Lent is a time that invites us to transform our lives - an opportunity to turn back to God with our whole hearts and reorient our lives.
Lent calls us to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a means to this end. We invite you to join Solidarity Bridge on our Journey through Lent. Each week, we will explore ways to use these practices to deepen our relationship with God and grow in solidarity with one another.
Inviting God,
Help me to enter this season of Lent with the hope and joy that I will grow closer to you, so that I can become the person you created me to be.
Open my eyes to that which is keeping me from seeing you clearly and help me to let go of all that is preventing me from living as my truest self.
Let my prayer, fasting, and almsgiving be a pathway to deeper solidarity with all your people.
Amen.
In the words of Pope Francis, as we enter Lent, “we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others.” Reflect on a habit, vice, or pleasure that occupies too central a place in your life. Do these habits help you put God and others at the center of your life, or do they distract you from the deep needs of your brothers and sisters in our human family? After reflection, choose an indulgence that keeps you from loving Christ and others as you could. How might fasting from this indulgence give more abundant life to you and others?
Surgically treatable conditions are responsible for more deaths globally than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Yet surgery has long been overlooked in the global health community as a form of essential care. Working in partnership with Puente de Solidaridad and numerous Bolivian health providers, Solidarity Bridge seeks to make surgical care safe and accessible to those in most need.
Sign up to receive our weekly Lenten Reflections direct to your email inbox.