Joke: An Irishman moves into the countryside, walks into the pub, and promptly orders three beers. The bartender raises his eyebrows but serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone, and orders three more. As this continued every day the bartender asked him politely, "The folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?" "It’s odd, isn't it?" The man replies, "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank." Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers. As this continued for several days, the bartender approached him with tears in his eyes and said, "Folks around here, me, first of all, want to offer our condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know-the two beers and all..." The man ponders this for a moment, and then replies with a broad smile, "You'll be happy to know that my two brothers are alive and well. It’s just that I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent. Now I am drinking for the other two!"

Giving up for Lent is one of the good practices of Lent. However, our giving up on whatever it is will be meaningless if there is no true conversion of heart. In today’s first reading, the Lord said to the people, “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.” Return to the Lord with your heart and not your garments. Giving up soft drinks, sweets, smoking, gossiping, criticizing, cheating, lust, lying, or whatever that we want to give up this Lent, it will be meaningless if we hold grudges from others, if we harbor hatred or resentment towards someone, or if we wish ill for others. Return to the Lord with our whole hearts, and not only our garments. Or rather, return to the Lord with a true conversion of heart and not only practicing the three pillars of Lent described in today’s Gospel.

What are the three pillars of Lent? They are Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Give Alms—“When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” When you help someone, do you help that person because you want to help or do you help because you expect something in return? Prayer—“When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” What is the door of the inner room if it’s not to shut off from all the attractions of this world to be able to reflect on the word of God? Fixing our eyes, ears, hearts, minds, and souls on the Lord Jesus in our prayers away from all the attractions of this world is a true prayer that the Lord Jesus invites us. Fast—“When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Is fasting about limiting our eating or our consumption of food and drink? What is it to do with anointing the head and washing the face? Perhaps, the true meaning of fasting is to do good deeds while limiting the consumption of food and drink.

Perhaps, practicing these three pillars of Lent to help us restore the two relationships revealed on the cross that we put on our forehead at the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

Two lines appeared on the Cross, the vertical line and the horizontal line. The vertical line expresses our relationship with God, and the horizontal line expresses our relationship within ourselves and with one another. Imagine if there is no vertical line, the horizontal line cannot stand by itself. It means that without a relationship with God on that vertical line, our lives will be collapsed since we cannot stand by ourselves. However, if we have a strong relationship with the Lord on that vertical line of the Cross, the Lord Jesus will make himself visible on that Cross to raise us, protect us, and help us on that horizontal line. It doesn’t matter how struggles we are on that horizontal line, the Lord Jesus will be there to restore our relationship with one another and within ourselves provided that we have a strong relationship with the Lord on that vertical line. The question is, how do we build a strong relationship with the Lord on that vertical line of the Cross if it’s not to learn to practice the three pillars of Lent?

The three pillars of Lent—Fast, Pray, and Almsgiving—are only brought to completion when they move from the head to the heart and carry out into action. The question for us to observe throughout this Lenten season is: Why does the Lord Jesus invite us to fast, to pray, and to give alms without others noticing? We invite you to keep the image of the Cross traced on your forehead on Ash Wednesday to remind you that Lenten Season is a sacred season to help us restore our relationship with God on the vertical line and to restore our relationship with one another and within ourselves appeared on that horizontal line of the Cross. The decision is always yours.