May the odds be ever in your favor...

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.

http://www.catholicbible101.com/lentenfasting.htm

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!