Denver Catholic

11 DENVER CATHOLIC | MARCH 9-22, 2019 Call 303.743.8804 OR 303.745.4418 HoranCares.com/Catholic Convenience & Excellence. When it matters most. Catholic owned. Pre-planning services. Seven metro area locations. Back: Leslie Olsen, Dan Monchunski, Monalisa Shafer, Mike Wherley, Ron Chamberlain, Ben Kubier, Michael Wellensiek, John Horan, Dan Davis, Michael Gold, Vanessa Rodriguez, Harry Queen, Lupe Alvarado. Seated: Debra Rupp, Janice (Perry) Queen, Kereen O'Connor, Valerie Horan, Chace Gri†n, John L. Horan, Andrea Horan, Karen Miller, Maggie Roberts, Larry Hagan. Additional Catholic sta member: Anthony Spano, Marisa Casillas, Sammantha Ramirez, and Valeria Licón. We share your faith Disclosure *APR (Annual Percentage Rate). The Annual Percentage Rate is the advertised rate. Borrowers credit score must be 680 and above to receive the 3.99% interest rate. Terms not to exceed 60 months; debt to income ratio not to exceed 45%; loan to value not to exceed 125% of NADA value. **Oer not valid for existing Credit Union loans, or renances of recreational vehicles or vehicles used for business purposes; some vehicles may not apply based on age or condition; not valid on indirect loans.Oer only good on new, pre-owned and renanced vehicles March 1-31, 2019. Call: 303.424.5037 Click: Fideliscu.org or Come by today Uniting Your Faith and Finances NEW | USED | REFINANCED ** 60 Months Save on Great Auto Rates! STARTING AT 3.99 % APR * the technique but the attitude of one's heart and taking time to pray. DC: How do you like to pray? FP: (laugh) I like many diž erent types of prayer. It depends on the situation. Sometimes meditating on Scripture, sometimes adoration or using the Jesus Prayer or the rosary. Prayer is not only a human activity but it is also an action of God's grace through the Holy Spirit. With good will and faithfulness, little by little the Holy Spirit inspires and guides how you should pray — in silence, adoration, intercession. DC: How can one persevere in prayer when lacking zeal for it? FP: Understand that prayer is answer- ing God's call. I pray because I search for God, but above all because God is asking this of me. Jesus said, "pray always and do not lose heart" (Lk 18:1). The desire to pray is a call from God, who wants us to be close to him. He knows why prayer is important for us more than we know. When I don't have the zeal, it helps to know that God is calling me and I have to be faithful to this call. He wants me to have a life fi lled with his presence and grace. It is important for me and for those living with me. The fruits of our prayer are the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Gal 5:22). Prayer isn't always fantas- tic. It may be simple and poor. No matter. If I am faithful, even in my pov- erty, God is communicating something to me, teaching me and working in the depths of my heart. DC: The other two Lenten disci- plines are fasting and almsgiving. How do those practices help us? FP: Fasting can be very positive: It means to put God fi rst in my life by removing things that can keep me from God. To hunger for God rather than for human, worldly satisfaction is the symbolic meaning of fasting. I restrain my human appetites to turn to God, my deepest desire, and to put him at the center of my life. Traditionally, we fast from food, but we can also fast from other things — social media, cell phones and other realities that tend to be a distraction — to make time for silence and to be in God's presence. Almsgiving, charity, opens us to the needs of others. It's an invitation to love: to share and not live a selfi sh, egoistic life. The more I am open to my neighbor, the more I will be open to God. Lent invites us to unite prayer, fasting and almsgiving to live in a deeper way our human vocation according to God's will, which Jesus said is to love God and to love one's neighbor (Mk 12: 30-31). We can't sep- arate the two. Ask the Holy Spirit to inspire your prayer, your fasting, your almsgiving. Lent is a time of spiritual struggle we accept that we may be closer to God and not be taken by the spirit of the world and a superfi cial life. DC: Is there anything you would like to add? FP: We should fast from worrying too much! The purpose of Lent is to trust more in God: to rely on him, his grace and his mercy, and to fi nd our deepest security and peace in him. One of the most important fruits of Lent is to know and experience God as Father. On Ash Wednesday in Matthew's Gospel (6:1- 6, 16-18) we will hear Jesus speaking about prayer, fasting and almsgiving. On prayer, he says: "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." (He speaks similarly about fasting and almsgiving.) The goal of Lent is to have deeper contact with God as Father: He is to be our hope, our strength, our peace. Don't worry about so many things or have anxiety about this and that. To rely on the love of the Father is to be a son of God. FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit frjacquesphilippe.com

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