5 Minute Theology: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

In the first letter of St. John we read,

for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of

life, comes not from the Father, but from the world.

He here describes to us the three primary dangers to our soul, the three main assaults of

the devil while we are in the world.

Traditionally, the lust of the flesh refers to the pleasures of the body in whatever form,

food, drink, comfort, sexual pleasure.

The lust of the eyes refers to the average desire for the things one sees in the world,

riches and material wealth in general.

And the pride of life refers to arrogance and vanity and desire for advancement and honors

and status.

We can see the devil have recourse to the same attacks when he tempted Christ in the desert.

He tells Christ to satisfy the desires of the body by creating food for himself and

his hunger, lust of the flesh.

He offers to him all the wealth and kingdoms of the world, lust of the eyes, and he tells

him to show his divine power by casting himself down so that angels would catch him, pride

of life.

These three dangers of the world are combated in a radical way by those who are called

to the religious life when they make vows of the three evangelical councils of Chastity,

Poverty and obedience.

Chastity to combat the lust of the flesh, poverty to combat the lust of the eyes, and obedience

to combat the pride of life.

These are called evangelical councils and not commands or precepts because not all are

called to them in entering religious life.

But we are called to combat these three temptations because we are all called the holiness.

The primary way that we counter these three dangers, especially during Lent, is by practicing

prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

By fasting we deny ourselves food in order to subjugate our body to our soul.

Remember how ever since the original sin of Adam, our passions are no longer subject

to our will and reason, and they seek to take the steering wheel.

So while Adam before the fall would not have been troubled by the rebellion of his passions

against his reason and will, afterwards he was, and we all are.

So we have to in a way inflict violence on our passions, not actual physical violence,

but taming and subjugating the passions by acting contrary to their tendencies.

When the body cries out for food, unless we must eat for reasons of health, we opt to

silence it by denying its desires.

For more we do this, the more our reason and will will take back the steering wheel from

the passions, and the less we are inclined to listen to temptations regarding bodily pleasure

and comfort.

By almsgiving we combat the lust of the eyes, the seeking and hoarding of riches and

wealth for ourselves.

We often recoil from parting with our money or goods because we can think of a million

different ways in which those things will prevent us from inconveniences that might arise,

and all the things we might be able to do and acquire with them, all the comforts we

can obtain with them.

We hear how there is a connection between the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh.

We wish to gain material possessions in order to obtain comfort and pleasure.

This is why the church is always seen a vital link between these three practices.

They have effects on each other.

The more we fast, the less we are driven by a desire for comfort, and thus by a desire

for goods to obtain that comfort.

And the more we give away our goods, the less likely we are to place so much emphasis

on our own comfort and pleasure, and the more willingly before-go pleasures in order

to give more alms to those in need.

Finally, by prayer we combat the pride of life by expressing our reliance on God and

the recognition of our nothingness.

What better way to dispel the notion that we are great and self-sufficient than by often

having recourse to prayer and humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging that all good

things we have and are come from Him and that without His assistance, nothing good comes

to fruition.

To recognize the all-important truth that of ourselves we are nothing and that He is everything

is to be free of the illusion that we are great and that others ought to bow or defer

to us.

In short, prayer trains us in the virtue of humility by which we see ourselves in truth

as we really are before God.

Prayer's connection with the other two practices should be clear.

To engage in mere self-denial without a life of prayer is to be no different than a stoic

pagan who is merely aiming for natural virtue.

It is not a sacrifice to God if not fed by prayer.

To give away one's goods, motivated merely by natural concerns, is an empty gesture.

If not accompanied by prayer and a love for others for God's sake, seeing them as made

in the image of God, almsgiving can become an exercise in pride.

Conversely to engage in prayer without fasting or almsgiving is likely to become mere

lip service.

What good is it in prayer to express our nothingness before God, our love for Him and desire

to do His will if we don't in fact practice these things?

To combat the three great threats to our soul, we must use land especially to train ourselves

in spiritual combat by God's grace.

We must pray without ceasing, as St. Paul says, and never tire of knocking and seeking

as our Lord tells us.

We must fast, because Christ Himself gave us this example and told us that some evil

spirits are only defeated by prayer accompanied with fasting.

And we must give alms, for the sentence our Lord will render at the last judgment as He

Himself tells us, will be based on how generous we were toward those in need.