The Real Battle of Lent

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021826.cfm

The world has its “small-g gods”: sex, money, and power. In this powerful Lenten homily, Fr. Chris Alar, MIC explains how the consecrated religious counter them through poverty, chastity, and obedience—but what about the laity?

The answer is the Church’s timeless Lenten call: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Fasting disciplines the flesh and breaks the grip of pleasure. Almsgiving loosens our attachment to money by giving not from surplus, but from sacrifice. Prayer humbles our desire for control and power, reminding us that God is in charge—not us. These are not random practices; they are spiritual weapons.

Father Chris reminds us that Lent occurs 46 days before Easter, with 40 days of fasting (Sundays excluded). Ash Wednesday—first named in 1091 under Pope Urban II—flows from ancient Jewish penitential practice and early Christian public penance. The ashes, made from burned palms, are sacramentals, not the Eucharist itself. They symbolize our mortality: “Remember you are dust.”

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting (ages 18–59) and abstinence (14+). All Fridays of Lent require abstinence from meat. Fridays throughout the year remain penitential days.

Lent is 10% of the calendar year—a perfect tithe of time. As Father shares, the currency of friendship is time. If we love God, we give Him time.

This Lent is not about giving up bad things. It’s about surrendering lesser goods to seek the Greatest Good. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Christ.