In his Lenten reflection, a priest reminded the faithful that prayer should help deepen their relationship with God.
Father Mi Shen, program director of Radio Veritas Asia, said that prayer should be a Christian’s entire life that draws a person away from the sin of pretentiousness.
“Prayer is not the way [to] make ourselves look more like a Christian… [It means] we are living in the presence of God,” he said.
Father Mi Shen was delivering the homily on Ash Wednesday (March 5) at the RVA Chapel in Quezon City, Philippines.
He further underlined how prayer, rooted in God’s presence, should come from one’s authentic heart and must never be taken for granted.
“Jesus reminds us... [to] not make prayer something external, [to] show that you are pious. But rather, your prayer is the communication of your life and relationship with the Lord,” he said.
He warned about the spiritual dangers one may encounter if their prayers cause them to sin instead of unite with the Lord.
In line with this, Father Mi Shen stressed that giving alms and fasting must also be observed, along with seeking external validation.
“We don't need recognition from others… We live the integrity [and] truthfulness of our Christian identity to love, even when it's difficult,” said the priest.
He said that the first step to living out the essence of Lent authentically is to “empty ourselves.”
“That’s why the Church encourages us to go to confession—to clean out the evil spirit [and] the selfishness so that our cup of life will be empty, and the grace of God will be filled in,” he said.
“Most importantly, we have to empty ourselves [because] we are in dire need of the love of God, to which we will be fulfilled when we celebrate the Passover, the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord,” Fr. Mi Shen said.
Furthermore, he reflected on the meaning of the imposition of ashes on the faithful’s foreheads every time the Lenten season begins, describing it as a “sign of commitment” to be with the Lord.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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