A good way to understand ‘fasting’ is to view it as the voluntary ‘giving up’ of something that is, in-itself, good. The most typical example is the restricting of the food we eat. We can fast between meals, by not eating snacks, or else engage in a complete fast by abstaining from all food for a specified period (most usually a day).
While fasting takes an outward form of ‘refraining from eating’, it is the inner spiritual discipline that really matters. The fast must not only engage body, but mind and spirit too. (Otherwise it is not really a fast at all, just an extreme diet!!) A fast is a deliberate but temporary surrendering of pleasure, designed to tame the body. A fast helps us ensure we control our pleasures and that they do not cotrol us. This frees us to focus on the ‘higher things’ of life.
But reader take note! The temporary nature of a fast is vitally important. God does not want us to grow into dry, dusty, mean old misers -forever depriving ourselves of pleasure. Such figures may exist but they are neither attractive nor desirable. No, we are called to enjoy this life, including its many and various pleasures, so long as they are wholesome and not damaging. We are to be warm, generous and happy people. That is what God desires from us. The fast then is to be a break from the norm- it is not to be the rhythm for life. That is what gives it both strength and meaning.
By stepping aside from normality and controlling our passions, we free our souls for ‘special’ moments of prayer. By sacrificing meals, we free up food and money that can then be offered to others, less fortunate than ourselves. This saving might seem insignificant at first, but if every Christian sent the money saved from a day of fasting- imagine the enormous impact it would have. This year at S. Barnabas we are collecting for the ‘Additional Curate’s Society’- why not add your ‘fast’ savings to the box?
A final point is that fasting can be used as an act of contrition. We can offer a day or meal without food as a way of saying ‘sorry’ for sins we have committed. This is often why I try to spend Good Friday without food- a way of sharing, if in only a tiny way, in the suffering of Christ. My way of accepting that my sins were part of those that placed him there.
In former times the Church set very stringent rules for Lenten fasting (abstaining from all meat until Easter and eating only one small meal per day). Today we are only asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Anyone over 18, but under 60, should eat only one meal on those days, preferably after Sundown.
So will you fast this Lent? Here are three simple ways to ensure you do not neglect this discipline in your spiritual life:
1) Give up meat on Fridays (not just in Lent but always). Not only is it healthy but it ensures our faith and food combine.
2) Fast for a minimum of one hour before the Mass. This ensures we spiritually prepare for mass. The hunger of our body can help us consider the hunger in our souls before we greet Christ in word and sacrament.
3) Eat nothing during daylight hours on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday each year. Offer the money you save to charity, pray during the times you would eat and offer the sacrifice of this food as an act of sincere penitence…but more of that tomorrow!
