Ash Wednesday
One
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent, a time Christ gives us to deepen our conversion.
Conversion means turning away from sin, which leads to two things: slavery to vice and alienation from God. This tragic cycle unfolds throughout history, as seen in Adam and Eve, Jacob, David, and Israel. God blesses us, we turn away in sin, and we end up enslaved to our vices and separated from Him. God always takes the initiative with His grace to save us but we must freely respond.
People search for the meaning of life, but the world has lost its story. Every great story has a plot and a conflict that must be resolved. Without it, the story makes no sense. Likewise, until we understand the central conflict of human life, sin and separation from God and God’s great plan to save us, we cannot grasp our purpose.
This Lent, through the Rosary, we will meditate on key figures and events from the Old Testament to see how God acts to break the cycle of sin, slavery, and exile. So that we can respond fully with our own conversion.
Today, Jesus calls us to conversion through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. So, as we begin Lent, reflect on what holds you back. What keeps you bound to sin? What prevents you from deeper friendship with Jesus in prayer? What hinders your generosity to the poor? And what attachments, to food, drink, or entertainment, enslave you? This is the time to break free, to turn back to God, and to enter fully into the story of redemption He has for you.
Two
Jesus in the Desert
Throughout life, we will face temptation, whether in adversity or prosperity. No one escapes it. How do we stay spiritually ready for Satan’s attacks? Christ shows us the way. Before facing the devil’s threefold temptation in the desert, temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil, He prepared by prayer and fasting. This is our training for spiritual war: to pray, to fast, and to remain vigilant, following Christ’s example in resisting the enemy’s assaults.
All temptation, all suggestions from the devil are temptations to turn away from God. Every sin is a rejection of God. True, we may not be consciously thinking of God when we sin, but actually, sin can be defined as the pursuit of something that makes it harder for us to be united to God. But all sin has this in common: it’s a turning away from God. All temptation to sin invites us to turn away our minds, our hearts, and our desires from God.
So, of course, the greatest training for resisting temptation is prayer: because prayer is a turning of the mind, heart, and desire to God. Only if we develop the habit of daily prayer will we have the daily training needed to fight the daily war against the devil. Only if we pray, will we be ready to resist the temptations that beset us.
Three
Fasting
Every sin and every temptation Satan sends us is a temptation to something good in itself but not good for us. Whether it’s sex, or human praise, or money, or food or drink, or our own dignity, or relationships, or even truth, which are all good things in themselves, Satan wants us to pursue these good things in a disordered way. He wants us to pursue them at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in the wrong circumstances and for the wrong reasons.
So that means, first of all, that we should recognize that just because something is good, that doesn’t mean it’s good for us. And secondly, we have to train ourselves in advance in saying “no” to good things. That’s what fasting is. It’s practice saying “No” to good things, which is just what we mean by self-mastery.
Satan’s only power over us is to lure us into evil with the promise of good things – good things that are less than God and that, in our case, will distance us from God. But the point is that if we’re able to say “No” to good things, then Satan actually has no power over us whatsoever.
So do you practice saying “No” to good things every day? Do you do any penance? Do you take initiative in sacrificing physical comfort, or culinary gratification, or some entertainment, or some social or verbal indulgence? If you don’t practice saying no to good things, how will you fight Satan when he comes for you? Christ, the Godman, the all-perfect Son of the Eternal One, He was willing to fast in order to resist temptation. If that was His training, why would we think we don’t need to train ourselves the same way?
Four
The Curing of the Epileptic Boy
Prayer and fasting aren’t just the way we fight the devil’s temptations in ourselves. It’s also how we help others get free of Satan’s influence.
When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from Mount Tabor, there was a boy with a demon who would give him epileptic fits. The other apostles had been trying to drive the demon out, but they’d failed. Then, after Jesus had successfully cast out the devil, his apostles asked him, “Why were we unable to drive that demon out?” In Matthew 17:21, Jesus answers, “This kind can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.”
So if there are people you know who are losing the battle with Satan, who are continually dominated by their temptations to unbelief, or sexual addiction, or drugs, or resentment, and you want to help them in their battle against Satan, then be sure to pray and fast for them. Pray for them. And make their spiritual redemption the goal of your fasting.
For example, let’s say you have a family member you’re worried about. Every time you want to reach for a treat, or some snack between meals, you could say a Hail Mary for them instead. Then you could combine prayer and fasting, and who knows how much help that could do in driving out the devil’s influence from their lives? Because some demons are only driven out by prayer and fasting.
Five
Reversing Adam and Eve’s Fall
When Adam and Eve fell, they fell because the Serpent tempted them away from God, and towards some self-indulgence. He tempted them away from God. He tempted them to become gods themselves. And he tempted them towards self-indulgence. He tempted them to knowledge that they were curious about, and to a piece of fruit that looked appealing.
If we want to do better than our first parents did when confronted with the Devil’s tactics, then we have to prepare against both these temptations. We have to stay focused on God through prayer. We have to practice saying no to good things, whether things of the mind or things of the body. If we do that, then by God’s grace we will win the daily battles against the devil, and we might even help other people win theirs.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
In order to combine prayer and fasting, each time you crave something you’ve given up, say a Hail Mary for one of your loved ones.
Remember that fasting isn’t just about saying no to something that’s bad for us, but saying no to something good in order to practice self-control.