Word to the Wise
Friday, February 24, 2012 - Friday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:1-9a and Matt 9:14-15]Why do we fast, and you do not see it? Afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it? Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,and drive all your laborers! [Isaiah] The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" [Matthew]
For all its traditional popularity as an ascetical observance, fasting as a regular religious practice does not have a lot of support in the Bible! Isaiah saw it as an external observance that lacked interior integrity. Jesus had a very casual attitude about it. In the Old Testament, the only fast required by the Mosaic Law was in preparation for the Day of Atonement. The Pharisees and, it seems, the disciples of John the Baptist, were fond of it as a religious practice. Jesus, however, seems to echo Isaiah when he points out that the Pharisees were too fond of being dramatic and attracting attention when they fasted. They were not getting any spiritual advantage, only public attention! If the disciples fasted, they should conceal the fact!
In Lent in the Catholic church of the USA, fasting is required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and exceptions are easily made for reasons of age and health as long as some other penitential practice is substituted for it. It seems to me that fasting can have the effect of reminding us of our habits of consumption, and how these habits impact our bodies and spiritual outlook! This means that there has to be an interior motivation that includes common sense and spiritual goals. For example, some social activists of all different religious beliefs have undergone long fasts as a way of calling attention to their cause. Long fasts have been a feature of the lives of many saints and blesseds in the church calendar. These fasts have been extreme and are not necessarily models for ordinary folk. Novice directors of religious congregations know well the occasional idealistic novice who undertakes a fast that results in a visit to the Emergency Room!
Lent is a good time to become more "intentional" about spiritual goals that involve the whole person and not simply a 40 day physical inconvenience. If fasting of a healthy nature assists in that process, then I'm all for it! But if the result is only the loss of a few pounds without the gain of long term spiritual benefit, it doesn't make sense! AMEN