The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to the prompting of the Spirit in the transformation of the obstacles to following Jesus' Way to opportunities for trust and charity.
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah distinguishes between false and true worship.
* [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. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 58, n.d.)
Psalm 51 is a prayer for Cleansing and Pardon.
* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. (Psalms, PSALM 51, n.d.)
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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)
Ronald Fussell comments that perhaps we have already reflected on these realities in our Lenten preparations. If we have, then maybe we have already noticed the effect that this kind of reflection can have on us. But if we haven’t, it is definitely not too late to reflect on these realities as we move through our Lenten journey.
My prayer for us is that after we give up the usual material goods, that the remaining space will be filled with an inspired desire to connect more with those who would benefit most from our love and attention. Together, may we find ways to notice and serve the hungry, marginalized, and excluded - to give from the heart - so that those efforts become habit. And as we take our time during this season of waiting and anticipation to commit more fully to the needs of the other, may those experiences satisfy the thirst that remains after our fast, so that we too will eventually flourish and bloom like a watered garden; a flowing spring whose waters never fail (Isaiah, 58:12). (Fussell, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “True fasting,” by 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) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9 comments that today's first reading invites us to take a deeper look at God’s purposes for fasting. It’s not simply about strengthening our self-discipline. It’s also meant to open us up to his love.
If you’re fasting from eating out, prayerfully consider how you can use the money or time you’re freeing up. Maybe you could take that dinner hour to bring a meal to an isolated or ailing neighbor. If you’re fasting from a sharp tongue, ask the Spirit to give you words that will build people up instead of tearing them down. Or if you’re fasting from activities that compete with family time, let the Holy Spirit show you a way to work together to build your faith or love for the poor. Maybe you could do a weekend project at your parish or a local shelter.
No matter how you choose to fast, let the Holy Spirit use it to help you to receive God’s love. Then let that love spill out to the people around you.
“Jesus, help me grow in your love this Lent.” (Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9, n.d.)
Gemma Simmonds CJ, a lecturer in pastoral theology and Director of the Religious Life Institute at Heythrop College, University of London, comments that in the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius Loyola slipped in a curious little page called the ‘Rules with Regard to Eating’.
The whole page is an exercise in agere contra, Ignatius’s idea that pulling gently in the opposite direction of an impulse run wild helps us to regain our balance. It connects with the very first paragraph of the Exercises, which talks of ‘preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all disordered attachments’ in order better to seek and find the will of God and with it the fullness of human flourishing.
And so we return to the notion of Lenten penance and its connection with the celebration of the Passion. Throughout the Exercises, as throughout the Gospel narratives, runs the thread of making choices. We see the choices we make, both great and small, in the light of the choices made by Jesus: on entering into our world and living as the Word made flesh, during the temptations in the desert, in proclaiming the Kingdom and modelling a particular type of messiahship, in the garden of Gethsemane, in the manner of his dying. They are all choices of a foolish God whose folly is wiser than our wisdom and who displays power through letting it go. (Simmonds, 2012)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the similarity of the passage from Isaiah to the one from Joel, on Ash Wednesday, Our lenten observance is meant to lead us to service of the anawim of our time. Friar Jude summarizes some of the occasions that involve fasting and lead us to a transformation of our interior disposition.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that discipleship ultimately and unavoidably leads to the cross and to identifying with the pain of the world. It is not insignificant that Christians chose the cross or crucifix as their central symbol. At least unconsciously, we recognized that Jesus talked often about “losing your life.” Perhaps Ken Wilber’s distinction between “ascending religions” and “descending religions” is helpful here. He and Fr. Richard both trust descending religion much more, and think Jesus did too. Here the primary language is unlearning, letting go, surrendering, serving others, and not the language of self-development—which often lurks behind our popular notions of “salvation.” Unless we’re careful, we will again make Jesus’ descending religion into a new form of climbing religion, as we have done so often before.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” are Jesus’ first words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3). And although Jesus made this quite clear throughout his life, we still largely turned Christianity into a religion where the operative agenda was some personal moral perfection, our attaining some kind of salvation, “going to heaven,” converting others rather than ourselves, and acquiring more health, wealth, and success in this world. In that pursuit, we ended up largely aligning with empires, wars, and colonization of our planet, instead of with Jesus or the powerless. All climbing and little descending, and it has all caught up with us in the twenty-first century. [1]
…
Spirituality is about honoring the human journey, loving it, and living it in all its wonder and tragedy. There is nothing really “supernatural” about love and suffering. It is completely natural, taking us through the deep interplay of death and life, surrender and forgiveness, in all their basic and foundational manifestations.…
Authentic Christianity is not so much a belief system as a life-and-death system that shows us how to give away our life, how to give away our love, and eventually how to give away our death. Basically, how to give away—and in doing so, to connect with the world, with all other creatures, and with God. [2] (Rohr, 2023)
We have the support of the culture of Lent to explore those changes in our relationships that we are urged to make for greater fullness of life.
References
Fussell, R. (2023, February 24). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022423.html
Isaiah, CHAPTER 58. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58?1
Matthew, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?14
Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/02/24/617013/
Psalms, PSALM 51. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?3
Rohr, R. (2023, February 24). The Descending Path — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-descending-path-2023-02-24/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Fasting for the Kingdom of God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=feb24
Simmonds, G. (2012, March 28). Rules for Eating. Thinking Faith. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20120328_1.htm
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