almsgiving

Seeing Anew in Lent

In this week’s Gospel from John 9, we hear the story of the man blind since birth who Jesus heals. Using earthy language that helps us to feel like eyewitnesses to the scene, the gospel writer tells us that Jesus “spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay onContinue reading “Seeing Anew in Lent”

Last week I wrote about the idea of giving ourselves over to God in fulfillment of our baptismal promises in relation to the Lenten practice of fasting and abstinence. Along with fasting and abstinence, there are two other traditional pillars of Lenten practice for Catholics: prayer and almsgiving. This week I write about almsgiving, anContinue reading “Almsgiving”

Lenten Practices Part II: Almsgiving

A guest post from Claire Bischoff As I wrote last week, there are three traditional pillars of Lenten practice for Catholics: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. This week I write about almsgiving, an ancient sounding word that may seem far removed from our current social lives. “Alms” is a word from Old English that refers toContinue reading “Lenten Practices Part II: Almsgiving”