Daily Readings
The links below will take you to the readings for each day of Lent (up to Easter Sunday), as published on the Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
March 2023
April 2025
Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving
Prayer
God invites us into a relationship with Him that is both personal and communal. He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh. Prayer is our response to God who is already speaking or, better yet, revealing Himself to us. Therefore, prayer is not merely an exchange of words, but it engages the whole person in a relationship with God the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. –USCCB
Matthew 6: 5-6
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him”
Fasting
Pope Clement XIII in 1759 said that “penance also demands that we satisfy divine justice with fasting, almsgiving and prayer and other works of the spiritual.” The purpose of our fast is to not become physically weak or lose weight but to create a hunger, a spiritual void that only Christ can fill; in fasting from the heart, we express our love of God and acknowledge our sinfulness. Though unworthy, we pray our sacrifices will be acceptable to the one who suffered and gave his life blood for us.
Every Ash Wednesday we hear from the prophet Joel (2:12-14): “Yet even now — oracle of the Lord — return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” It is not our clothes but our hearts we need to rend in reflecing our sorrow. Our fast is not for man but for God. (source: www.simplycatholic.com)
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. (source: USCCB)
Abstinence from meat is to be observed by all Catholics 14 years and older on Ash Wednesday and all Friday's of Lent. Ash Wednesday is on March 2.
Fasting is to be observed on Ash Wednesday by all Catholics who are 18 years of age but not yet 59. Those who are bound by this may take only one full meal. Two smaller meals are permitted if necessary to maintain strength according to one’s needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.
Matthew 6:16-18
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Almsgiving
What is Almsgiving?
The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." (CCC, no. 2462). –USCCB
Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2447
“The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instruction, advising, consoling, and comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:
“He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food must do likewise. But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?”
Matthew 6:1-4
“But take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your let hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
Archdiocesan Lenten Podcasts from 2021:
Walking with Christ: Scriptural Stations of the Cross
In keeping in mind the 3 pillars of Lent - Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving - we will be taking a deep dive into the Stations of the Cross by offering 28 podcasts (14 in English and 14 in Spanish) that give us a chance to reflect on each individual station for an extended period. There will also be 14 videos with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.
These podcasts will be offered an average of twice per week, beginning the week of Ash Wednesday, so that we can really walk with the Lord through Lent every step of the way, while also giving people time to sit with each of those steps, meditate on them individually, and invite Jesus more closely into their own walk.
Each podcast will be 12-15 minutes long, with sufficient time for reflection without becoming burdensome for use in daily life. We will be using the Scriptural Stations of the Cross from the USCCB as our guide, which gives us ample scripture to immerse ourselves in. Each podcast will consist of an introduction, the name of the station and the scripture which accompanies it, a 3-10 minute reflection by an Archdiocesan priest, an idea for fasting and an idea for almsgiving or an act of charity.
To listen on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/walkingwithchrist
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0oGMNOmK9C8z5WrESYykdH
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walking-with-christ/id1553118960
and to view in American Sign Lanaguage (ASL) visit:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBe0I2BUpqNvkdmDDT6T5OIzBoLhiNIxP
View all the podcasts here
