The in-depth discussion of Lent by His Excellency Monsignor Raffaello Martinelli, a priest of the Diocese of Bergamo and emeritus bishop of the Diocese of Frascati, continues and concludes.
You can read the first part of the text on our blog.

What are the Lenten practices?

Lent entails an ascetic commitment, both individual and communal, whose traditional forms are:
– prayer (especially daily Mass and the Stations of the Cross);
– fasting (the set of practices of self-denial: food – words – entertainment): self-denial allows greater availability for our neighbors, more time for volunteering, and more money for charity;
– almsgiving (help for our neighbors who are more in need than we are).

During Lent, the Church reminds us that the following are prescribed:
– fasting and abstinence from meat: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday;
– abstinence from meat: every Friday of Lent.

The Church particularly recommends practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy during Lent:
The seven works of corporal mercy
1. Feed the hungry.
2. Give drink to the thirsty.
3. Clothe the naked.
4. Shelter pilgrims.
5. Visit the sick.
6. Visit prisoners.
7. Bury the dead.

The seven works of spiritual mercy
1. Counsel the doubtful.
2. Teach the ignorant.
3. Admonish sinners.
4. Comfort the afflicted.
5. Forgive offenses.
6. Patiently bear with troublesome people.
7. Pray to God for the living and the dead.

These practices “express conversion in relation to oneself, in relation to God, and in relation to others” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1434).

What is the importance of fasting?

(from Benedict XVI’s Message for Lent 2009)

Nowadays, Benedict XVI observes, fasting “seems to have lost some of its spiritual value,” because it often amounts to a “therapeutic measure for caring for one’s body.”

For believers, fasting is of great importance; it is rich in numerous meanings and purposes:
Personal dimension:
– Through fasting, in fact, the believer intends to “humbly submit to God, trusting in his goodness and mercy.”
– The practice of fasting helps “to give unity to the person, body and soul, helping them avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord.”
– “Abstaining from the material food that nourishes the body facilitates an inner disposition to listen to Christ and feed on his word of salvation.”
– Through fasting and prayer, “we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger we experience within ourselves: hunger and thirst for God.”
– This practice is “a spiritual weapon for fighting against any possible disordered attachment to ourselves.”
– Likewise, it “helps Christ’s disciple control the appetites of a nature weakened by original sin, whose negative effects affect the whole human personality.”

Social dimension:
– The Holy Father also emphasizes the social significance of fasting, stating that “it helps us become aware of the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live.”
– What we save by fasting can be devoted to charitable and philanthropic works.
– For this reason, he urges parishes “to intensify the practice of personal and communal fasting during Lent, while also cultivating listening to the Word of God, prayer, and almsgiving.”

Fasting from food particularly recalls and entails fasting from sins (especially gluttony, the disordered use of sexuality…).

Ultimately, thanks to fasting, Lent is the ideal time “to distance ourselves from everything that distracts the spirit and to intensify what nourishes the soul, opening it to the love of God and neighbor.”

Regarding almsgiving:

How should alms be given?

Here are some guidelines:
– it must be hidden: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” Jesus says, “so that your almsgiving may remain secret” (Mt6, 3-4);
– carry it out:
• without offending the other person;
• without putting ourselves on display (vainglory);
• with joy: there is more joy in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20:35);
– in silence, away from the spotlight of media-driven society;
– not limit ourselves to giving something material (money, bread…), but give ourselves: our esteem, our respect, our time, our talents (volunteering);
– offer a material gift as a sign of the greater gift we can offer others: the proclamation and witness of Christ;
– what gives almsgiving its value is love: see the widow’s offering in the Gospel (cf. Mk 12:42-44).

What are the purposes of almsgiving?

– Help those most in need;
– share with others what we possess through divine goodness;
– practice the virtue of justice: first and foremost, rather than an act of charity;
– recognize Christ Himself in the poor;
– imitate Christ, who became poor to make us rich;
– undertake an ascetic practice for ourselves:
• to free ourselves from attachment to earthly goods
• to purify ourselves inwardly;
– affirm the principle that we are not owners but stewards of the goods we possess, given to us by God;
– act for the glory of God;
– practice it not out of philanthropy but out of charity and love: an act of ecclesial communion;
– draw closer to God by drawing closer to others: a means of authentic conversion and reconciliation with Him and with our brothers and sisters.
– obtain forgiveness for sins. Saint Peter lists forgiveness of sins among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving: “Charity – he writes – covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8).

This concludes Bishop Raffaello Martinelli’s series of insights on our blog.

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The material contained in this document belongs to Bishop Raffaello Martinelli, who generously authorized its free distribution through Shalom Publishing House. All the content presented is taken from the collection “50+3 Current Topics - Fragments of Catholic Truth,” edited by Bishop Raffaello Martinelli.