Posted by Greg
I’ve
been having trouble thinking of topics to write about for the blog
(which is kind of sad since I’ve only posted once) and I finally thought
of one today that happens to be appropriate for the Lenten season:
Fasting.
As
Catholics we have designated days in the liturgical year that we are
required to fast such as Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but I feel that
many of us have a hard time doing it joyfully. Yes, there is sorrow
associated with our fast
on Good Friday because this represents the day that our Lord entered
into his passion and died for us, and yes, fasting is a form of
suffering, but I feel that great good can and should come of it
otherwise our Lord would not ask us to do it.
Where is it in the bible, you ask? I came prepared:
-Romans
8:15-18: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry,
"Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit
that we are
children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us.
-1
Peter 4:13: But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that
you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
-1 Peter 5:8-9: Be sober, be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one
to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same
experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood
throughout the world.
-Luke 5:35: The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days."
-Mark 9:27-28: And
when he was come into the house, his disciples secretly asked him: Why
could not we cast him out? And he said to them: This kind can go out by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
-Matthew 6:16-18: And
when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their
faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they
have received their reward. But
thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou
appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy
Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee .
Thank you Catholic Bible 101 for the verses neatly packaged in one place.
Also, the Catechism says:
· 1250 All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are
penitential days and times throughout the entire Church.
· 1251
Abstinence from eating meat or another food according
to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on
Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and
fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the
Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
· 1252
All persons who have completed their fourteenth year
are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of
fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors
and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of
fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic
sense of penance.
·1253
It is for the conference of bishops to determine more
precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in
whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance,
especially works of charity and exercises of piety.
As
I was saying, though, I feel that great good can and should come from
fasting. Fasting not is not only a sacrifice that brings us closer to
Jesus,
it is a way to practice holiness. We are all made of spirit and flesh,
right? Most of us spend our days feeding the needs(not to mention the
desires) of the flesh that it becomes a habit as opposed to a necessity.
We
drink our coffee in the morning even though we have just finished
sleeping but are we actually fatigued, or are we just accustomed to
dragging ourselves
to Starbucks? We eat our lunch because it just happens to be lunch
time, but are we actually feeding hunger, or fattening our desires? We
spend so much time taking care of every desire that the flesh demands
that we don’t spend any time feeding our spirit,
and it is starving.
What
fasting does is separate our urges from our needs and allows for the
spirit to eat first, and sometimes go back for seconds. This is why the
conference
of bishops tell us that works of charity and piety are especially good
substitutes for fasting and abstinence. Through fasting do we grow in
our piety.
The
reason fasting is so difficult for some of us is that we spend every
day practicing the opposite. Fasting nurtures self-control or
temperance, one
of the Catholic virtues, the opposite of which is gluttony. By feeding
our urges we teach our brains to only want instant gratification,
practicing gluttony. Fasting is a way of freeing us of the burden of
moderation by enriching our spirit as being gluttonous
frees us from moderation by enslaving us. It’s the balance between
flesh and spirit that helps us grow in our faith.
I think that’s why that first meal after a fast tastes so good and satisfies us so well, because the spirit is well-fed.
I
hope everyone takes the opportunity to learn and grow during this
Lenten fast and be given the grace to take on fasting more frequently
throughout
the year. Let the Hunger Games commence!
