The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to extend the actions that begin in religious practices to making a difference in people’s lives through compassion and caring.
The fast of mourning
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah contrasts false and true worship and presents some reasons for judgment.
* [58:1–5] The prophet is commanded to condemn the formalism of the people, specifically their hypocritical fasting.* [58:6–12] Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity.1
Psalm 51 is a prayer for cleansing and pardon.
* [51:18] For you do not desire sacrifice: the mere offering of the ritual sacrifice apart from good dispositions is not acceptable to God, cf. Ps 50.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses the question about fasting.
* [9:15] Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew’s church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1.3
Tom Purcell comments that the act of fasting is more deeply appreciated if the context is to de-emphasize physical gratification as a means to increasing awareness of spiritual influences. The fasting then reinforces the observation of Teilhard deChardin – we are not physical beings in search of the spiritual, but spiritual beings in search of a physical experience. And so the self-denial of fasting reinforces the spiritual reality of our existence.
For those of us who choose to engage in serious fasting during Lent, as we fast perhaps we should ask:
From what are we fasting – i.e., what is it really we are denying ourselves?
What are the benefits we observe in ourselves as we fast – physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual?
What is it we seek from God in our process of fasting? What enlightenment, what appreciation for our limitations, what sense of gratitude for Jesus, what sorrow for our inability or insensitivity in seeing the love of God manifested in our lives and in those around us?
What changes can we make in ourselves as we see how we cope with our diminished consumption of whatever it is we deny ourselves through fasting? Do we really need as much of what we had been consuming? How will our lives be better if we continue to deny ourselves that from which we are fasting?4
Don Schwager quotes “True fasting,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD.
"All the endeavors for fasting are concerned not about the rejection of various foods as unclean, but about the subjugation of inordinate desire and the maintenance of neighborly love. Charity especially is guarded - food is subservient to charity, speech to charity, customs to charity, and facial expressions to charity. Everything works together for charity alone." (excerpt from Letter 243, 11)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9 notes that Isaiah tells them, and us, to fast from injustice—to set free those who are oppressed, to feed the hungry, and to clothe the naked. These are big-picture problems that we all need to work together to solve. But what about fasting from the smaller injustices we might commit against the people we interact with each day?
How about turning your fasts into feasts? Think about how you can replace negative behaviors with acts of love and kindness. Instead of gossiping, you could feast on silence and discretion. Instead of criticizing, you could feast on affirming people. Instead of complaining, you could feast on counting your blessings and sharing them. Instead of holding grudges, you could feast on forgiveness.6
Friar Jude Winkler notes the disappointment recorded in Trito-Isaiah that the promises of Second Isaiah had not been fulfilled after the Exile in Babylon. We fast, as Jesus indicates, when we mourn and also for discipline, sharing, and solidarity. Friar Jude underlines the importance of prayer, surrender, and service in our fasting.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that the work of theologian Howard Thurman was heavily influenced by his own mystical experiences.Thurman takes what is personal and makes it universal. Walter Brueggemann calls this “the scandal of particularity.” [1] We “get it” in one ordinary, concrete moment and wrestle and fall in love with it there. It’s a scandal precisely because it’s so ordinary. What is true in one place finally ends up being true everywhere. In this passage, Thurman applies this youthful lesson to prayer.
One night I was awakened by my mother, who asked if I would like to see the comet [Halley’s Comet]. I got up, dressed quickly, and went out with her into the back yard. There I saw in the heavens the awesome tail of the comet and stood transfixed. With deep anxiety I asked, without taking my eyes off it, “What will happen to us when that thing falls out of the sky?” There was a long silence during which I felt the gentle pressure of her fingers on my shoulders; then I looked into her face and saw what I had seen on another occasion, when without knocking I had rushed into her room and found her in prayer. At last she said, “Nothing will happen to us, Howard. God will take care of us.” In that moment something was touched and kindled in me, a quiet reassurance that has never quite deserted me. As I look back on it, what I sensed then was the fact that what stirred in me was one with what created and controlled the comet. It was this inarticulate awareness that silenced my fear and stilled my panic.7
The discipline of fasting is an opportunity to engage our body and spirit in recognition of our connection to God and surrender to our mission of love and service to others.
References
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