Many of us are familiar with the book and movie Eat, Pray, Love. The journey one woman went through (Eat in Italy, Pray in India, Love in Indonesia) to overcome a divorce. Well, what about the time of year where we follow Fast, Pray, Give? We Fast on Ash Wednesday, and Fridays until Easter, pray to be closer to God, and Give to those who have less, and it all takes place for 40 days of Lent. The Lenten season is only a few weeks away, and we want to make sure that you are ready for Fast, Pray and Give.

Fast

Fasting has become somewhat trendy over the past couple of years. Celebrities, fitness trainers, nutritionists, and many more encourage people to fast so they can obtain that dream physique. That is not what fasting is about.

We are encouraged to fast in order to self-reflect and become closer to our spiritual selves. Fasting helps us to seek deeper prayers and reflections and help us connect with our faith more. And contrary to popular belief, we do eat on Friday’s. We have two smaller meals, and a normal sized dinner, and we abstain from meat.

Pray

With fasting, we pray deeper. And prayer is an essential part of Lent. Many attend Stations of the Cross on Good Friday and take in Jesus’s Crucifixion on the Cross. You start where Jesus is condemned to death and end in when Jesus is laid in the tomb. The journey in between shows the love he had for his disciples and God. No matter the weight of the cross, or the weight of the world, he kept going until he was arrested.

Experiencing the Stations of the Cross helps Christians around the world feel the love of God and Jesus. The prayer we give at each stations goes even deeper in our spirituality.

Give

Although we closely associate the Advent season with giving, it is also true during the Lenten season. We should be giving our time and support to those who may not have as much as us. Give food to a food bank, volunteer your time for an organization that needs extra hands, or maybe give financially to an organization that needs the extra help.

If you go to the Parish Giving website, you can see different organizations in your church that you can donate towards. We make it easy and convenient (and you know exactly where your hard-earned money is going), so there are no guessing games. You want to give towards St. Vincent, check and see if your parish has it available. You want to give towards Catholic University of America? Check and see if your parish has it available to give towards.

As you can see Fast, Pray, and Give are more than just words – they have a deeper meaning to each individual person. We fast to self-reflect, we pray to be closer to Jesus, and we give because that is what he would want from us. This Lenten season we should try to be the best version of ourselves and adopt Fast, Pray and Give.