The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us that our lamentation over the darkness in the world is the starting point for our resolve to work with Christ to return to a path of justice and care for our world.
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah contrasts 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 | USCCB, 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. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]). (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, 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 | USCCB, n.d.)
Kent Beausoleil, S.J. comments that Lent is a time that asks us to accept the responsibilities of being an assembly of human beings, called to love ourselves and others divinely, with that same spirit of love and merciful justice that is of God.
One of the truths of our human existence is that despite our human propensity to make mistakes, fail, sin, our God loves us no matter what. We are loved sinners. Too often though, our pride and hubris keeps us from being humble before God. We can feel that God made this huge mistake and we are not loveable. Or we think we are SO loveable, so perfect, that our ego has deemed equality with God something indeed we can grasp at. Either position we put our will before God for they push God out of the equation. First, being unlovable, God is wrong. Second, being so great, there is no need for God. (Beausoleil, 2025)
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 that our fasting is not meant to change God. He never changes anyway! Rather, it’s meant to change us. And it does that by helping us experience a small measure of Jesus’ suffering. If we undertake a fast—or any other kind of self-denial—with the intention of drawing closer to the Lord, we’ll come to a deeper appreciation of what he endured on the cross for our sake. We’ll see that, just as we can break our fast any time we want, Jesus could have ended his suffering at any point. But he didn’t. He loved us too much to throw in the towel. He was too committed to saving us from sin.
As you take up the call to fasting this Lent, fix your eyes on Jesus, the crucified Bridegroom. Tell him that you want your acts of self-denial to make you more like him.
“Jesus, help me to follow you to the cross!” (Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9, 2025)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the questioning in trito Isaiah about the contrast between the promises in deutero Isaiah and the desolation encountered by the people returning to Jerusalem after the Exile in Babylon and the need to embrace justice, help the poor, and release the oppressed. Jesus explains about the lack of fasting of the disciples when the Bridegroom is with them. Friar Jude reminds us of several reasons for fasting and encourages our generosity with time and treasure freed by our fast.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Mirabai Starr who shares what she learned about the nonviolent direct actions of Jesuit peace activist Father Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016). Inspired by conversations with her friend and iconographer Father William (Bill) McNichols, she reflects that many of his followers may not have known was that Daniel Berrigan was inconsolable. As a champion for nonviolence, Dan did not see a lot of evidence that the culture of war would ever wane. Nevertheless, he persevered. What else can a true prophet do? “One is called to live nonviolently,” he said, “even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the United States around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better.” [1] He also said, “Peacemaking goes nowhere and yet it must be done.” [2]
A prophet cannot know that all will be well, that those in power will wake up and mend the damage they have caused, and that peace will prevail. The mystic can never be certain that union with God will be the outcome of longing for God. They must rest in unknowing. Unknowing is not always comfortable. In fact, it can feel a lot like grief.
And yet that emptiness, that waiting, that liminal space is sacred. It’s what distinguishes a prophet-mystic from a self-righteous activist or a spiritual narcissist. It is in the interior desert, where the landscape appears barren, that patience reveals the miracle of life teeming just below the surface. The more we mindfully observe what is, the more beauty comes into focus. There is nothing broken here, nothing to fix. Rather, the prophet-mystic practices sitting with reality as it is. From that space of quiet listening, we may perceive what is ours to do and tap into the vitality we need to do it. We take up our birthright of belonging and, in the spirit of the mystical Jewish teaching of tikkun olam, we mend the broken world and restore wholeness to the web of interbeing. (Rohr, n.d.)
We pause and ponder the brokenness that is threatening peace, order, and good government today and let the act of fasting increase our pursuit of love in the Spirit to be agents of consolation and change.
References
Beausoleil, K. (2025, March 7). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/030725.html
Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58?1
Matthew, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?14
Meditation on Isaiah 58:1-9. (2025, March 7). The Word Among Us. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/03/07/1222616/
Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?3
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Sitting with Reality. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/sitting-with-reality/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Fasting for the Kingdom of God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 7, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=mar7
No comments:
Post a Comment