Did You Know

Commanded by our Lord (“When you pray. . .When you fast. . .When you give alms. . .” (MATTHEW 6), these three marks are not optional for His disciples! The discipline of FASTING helps us recognize our true heart hunger – for God – and to move away from the many things with which we try to fill the “God-sized hole” in our lives! We are called to turn more and more to Christ to satisfy our heart hungers. FASTING is so much more than merely exercising self-control; it can be spiritual and physical purification. In our situation in the Western world, FASTING from food is a reminder of our presumed abundance and a way to walk in solidarity with people around the world who struggle with daily hunger, for whom fasting is not an option! FASTING can also take the form of deliberately moving away from the endless noisy “clutter” of our non-stop culture. Consciously limiting our intake of social media, FASTING from the twenty-four-hour news networks, cellphone abuse, video games, computer ‘surfing’, can be a great help in quieting our minds and helping us regain our focus for life and transformation. This FASTING can also help us ‘de-tox’ from the sins that frequently have their origins in the excess of noise and activity: anger, road rage, ‘workaholism’, judgements, envy and jealousy. FASTING helps us make the important distinction between my ‘wants’ and my actual ‘needs’. FASTING helps us to prioritize our time – how am I using the precious gift of my time and energy each day? FASTING is to engage yourself in positive, life-giving, creative activities that allow you to rise above those things that hold you down, make you unfree and burdened. FASTING is counter-cultural! The culture celebrates self-indulgence, not self-denial. Self-denial is admittedly not easy, and it is more difficult in societies that glamorize self-indulgence. Self-indulgence is not only self-destructive, but also ultimately anti-social. We are all affected by those who allow their appetites and passions to control them – hence FASTING! Not simply an exercise in self-control, FASTING helps us to move away from being simply ‘consumers’, with direct results in healthier bodies, minds, and spirits: a happier, healthier, holier you! FASTING always “overflows” into ALMSGIVING (practical charity)!!! The Church guidelines for Fasting and Abstinence from food are simple: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of both fast and abstinence. All Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence. Abstinence means eating no meat. (Milk, eggs and fish are fine.) Fasting means eating only one normal-sized meal and two small meals, with no snacks. Those 14 and older are required to abstain from meat; those 18-59 are required to fast, except in cases of special medical conditions that prevent fasting.