Substance over Form. There is no benefit to abstaining from meat (when you love seafood - kidding!) or eating just one full meal a day, if there is no conversion of the heart. The true essence of Lent is God's immense love for us that moved Him to sacrifice His own Son for our salvation. Remembering this should disturb us and move us to love in Christ's fashion. I'm not saying let's get ourselves crucified. Loving need not be grand or complicated. But the least we could do is to "Pay it Forward". "Faith without charity [active love] is dead".
From 1st Reading - Isaiah 58:1-9 :
"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry; sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed ..."
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 18-19 :
"My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn."
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