Ash Wednesday

Year A
9 March 2011
St. John’s Church in the Village
New York City
The Rev’d Lloyd Prator

The three traditional benchmarks for observing Lent are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Alan Jones, who recently retired as the Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, is a delightful writer and a very bright theologian who used to serve here at General Seminary in New York. He argues that these three disciplines are still just as relevant as they were in the history of Christianity. He gives these three updating moments to each of the disciplines:

Prayer opens you to God. Fasting opens you to yourself. Almsgiving opens you to others.

Prayer: Ever been at a party and really anted to talk to someone. But you were timid. You may have sulked near the bar or hidden behind the French Onion Dip. But if you were really together, you walked over and said something. Or, if you have a dear friend, and get an urging to call her—for heavens sake do it. Even if you don’t do it very often, do it when you think of it because you will be glad of the lines of communication which have been set up thereby. If you are drawn to God, you will want to talk to God, and that is what prayer is—a talking to God.

Fasting: Fasting opens you to yourself. Prayer and almsgiving tend to turn you outward, fasting turns you inward. Even in Jesus words in the gospel, it seems clear that the Lord thinks of fasting as an inward, personal thing, not a point of display or pride. Fasting makes us hungry and that inner pain causes us to look inward at ourselves. Fasting causes us to think about what we really need for our lives, and how we might consume less or live healthier. Fasting turns us toward ourselves.

Almsgiving turns us in love toward others. Here is a way to do that right here at home, along with your other St. John’s friends.