Word to the Wise
Friday, March 8, 2019 - Friday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:1-9a and Matt 9:14-15]This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. [Isaiah] The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." [Matthew]
In the Old Testament, fasting was a sign of mourning and was required of Jews only on the Day of Atonement, although there were occasional fasts involved in great decisions. Isaiah attacks the fasting adopted by certain parties who did it as a form of piety but who were completely unjust outside pious settings. The disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees adopted fasting as a regular religious practice, but Jesus did not. He points out the traditional place for fasting was during a time of mourning. His ministry should be a time of rejoicing. In the Sermon on the Mount, he warns against public fasting so that people can see it.
For Catholics, fasting is required only twice in the liturgical year: on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and then only for those between the ages of 18 and 60. If this cannot be observed for serious reasons, then some other penitential practice is recommended. The observance is meant to remind us of the need of repentance and conversion and discipline of appetite.
Isaiah's idea of fasting comes very close to Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-45: "When I was hungry, you gave me to eat......." If we fast to remind ourselves of the need for repentance, perhaps we might ask ourselves when we failed to respond to the Lord who faced us in the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned and stranger. And having recognized that failure, we can ask ourselves what we are going to do about it, not only in Lent, but all year long. And then actually DO something about it. AMEN