Tag Archives: St Peter Chrysologus

Generosity in Lent

Lent is a time when we follow Christ more closely, accompanying him along the way of the Cross over Mount Calvary to the Resurrection. In this meditation we consider how:

  • Christ spent forty days praying and fasting in the desert to prepare for his public life. We accompany him in Lent by intensifying our own life of prayer and self-denial for forty days.
  • Christ loved us “to the end” by dying on the Cross for us and so we should grow in our love for others.
  • It is important to live Lent well since we don’t know when God is going to call us to eternal life with him. “Now is the acceptable time”, St Paul writes to the Corinthians.
  • St Peter Chrysologus teaches us that we should never separate the three aspects of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
  • We identify specific, practical ways in which we can improve our life of prayer, self-denial and charity.

Living Lent with generosity

 

The word Lent comes from the ancient word Lencten, meaning springtime. If we live Lent well we have a true springtime, with new growth in our spiritual life. In this meditation we consider how:

  • In Lent we accompany Jesus in his forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert.
  • We respond to his invitation, if we want to be his disciples, to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow him.
  • We can choose something from each of the three traditional areas of prayer, fasting and charity.
  • If we live Lent with generosity, we will be much closer to God on Easter Sunday than we were on Ash Wednesday.

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This entry was posted in Meditations and tagged Charity, Fasting, John Flader, Lent, Meditation, podcast, Pope Francis, Prayer, St Peter Chrysologus on . Edit

 

Living Lent well

 

Our Lord fasted and prayed for forty days before beginning his public life of preaching the Gospel. In Lent we accompany him in prayer, fasting and almsgiving to prepare for the great feast of Easter. In this meditation we consider how:

  • Inspired by Christ’s example, our prayer and fasting will help us overcome the many temptations we face in life.
  • When we live Lent well, we grow in self-mastery and experience the joy of the resurrection every day.
  • Lent spurs us on to new growth in the spiritual life and prepares us for our final meeting with Our Lord.
  • Texts of Pope Francis and St Peter Chrysologus show us the importance and unity of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
  • There are many practical ways of living each of these aspects of Lent.