Fight War With Love This Lent

 

“You shall not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake.” –Leviticus 19:16.

It was chilling to hear this Scripture being read at Mass on Monday, with so many people in need of our prayers and help in Ukraine. (It’s important to note that this wasn’t read because of the war. The schedule of Scriptures used for Catholic Masses was set more than 50 years ago, after Vatican II.)

We also heard from Matthew’s Gospel. Here are parts of the passage:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory… all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another… the sheep from the goats…” --Matthew 25:31-32

The word ‘nations’ jumped out at me like never before.  Also:

“…whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine,

you did for me.” –Matthew 25:40

 This Lent, let’s fight war with love and offer our prayers and sacrifices for the people of Ukraine. Just as Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people when a boy humbly offered Him five loaves of bread and a few fish, so He can still work miracles in today’s world when we offer Him our prayers, fasting, and almsgiving for someone else’s benefit.

Remember, Lent is less about what we do and more about what God does with, for, and through us. Lent is not about performing self-serving acts of self-discipline. Rather, these weeks give us opportunities to let God pour His love into us so that we can love each other better. Our seemingly humble Lenten offerings become holy when He uses them to help others, and we are made holy by offering them.

We may be tempted to think, “I can’t give much, and I’m not one who spends hours in prayer; God can’t possibly do anything with what I have.”  Imagine if that boy had not offered his bread and fish to Jesus. Let’s remember that the amount of material goods we give, the amount of time in prayer we spend, and the kinds of sacrifices we make are not important. What matters is that we do and give everything with love.

Let’s remember, too, the immense power of intercessory prayer, proven when Moses pleaded with God on behalf of the unfaithful people:

“So the Lord changed his mind about the harm which he had threatened to do to his people.” –Exodus 32:14

Let’s pray for an end to war. Let’s love with our hearts and hands. Let’s ask God to take every instance of our self-denial and every donation of our time, our talents, our money or other items and use them, with His power, to help the people of Ukraine.

“Lord, accept our loving sacrifices. Save the people of Ukraine.”

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Gifting Each Other With Prayer

 

“I’ll pray for you.” What a wonderful gift we give to someone when we ask God, the Creator of the universe, to help them in whatever way is needed for that particular situation. This is what we call ‘intercessory prayer.’ We give ourselves the same gift when we pray for ourselves.

I believe God designed prayer to be both spiritual and intellectual; I believe that prayer is most powerful when we pray for something specific, and visualize what we are asking God to accomplish as if it has already happened. Even while praying recited or repetitive prayers, like the rosary, we might picture the scene or the person we’re praying for. Here are a few examples you might want to try that have been taught to me over the years:

Someone’s physical health is poor? While you ask God to heal them, picture that person’s body being healed. Picture them in their home or hospital bed or wherever they are. Picture an army of white blood cell “soldiers” battling their illness. Picture Jesus laying His healing hands on the person as their body heals. Picture Him calming their fears, taking away their pain, and helping their body relax. 

If someone is in need of emotional, mental, or spiritual healing, ask Jesus to shower His blessings on them. Picture Him placing His hands on their head, pouring His peace into their mind and their heart. Picture Jesus standing with His arm around the person’s shoulder, offering words of comfort and encouragement. Ask the Lord to let the person feel His love and presence.

Are there relationship problems? Ask Jesus to act as a loving mediator. Picture Him standing in the room with the people who are estranged from each other, His open hands inviting them to reconcile. Picture the tension between them fade as healing and forgiving powers wash over them, wrapping them in His peace. Picture the people smiling at, shaking hands with, and even hugging each other.

Many of our struggles are caused not only by the circumstances but by the stress we feel because of those circumstances. That’s why, in my opinion, we add power to our prayers when we pray for another’s peace of mind and heart as well as their physical health.

Jesus promised to be with us; let’s be generous in gifting each other with our prayers.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20

“Lord, help me to pray my prayers with sincerity so that Your will may be done and the world will come to know you and the power of Your love.”

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