20230224 OBJECTIVE OF FASTING IS FOR FEASTING WITH THE LORD
24 February 2023, Friday after Ash Wednesday
First reading | Isaiah 58:1-9 © |
The sort of fast that pleases me
Thus says the Lord:
Shout for all you are worth,
raise your voice like a trumpet.
Proclaim their faults to my people,
their sins to the House of Jacob.
They seek me day after day,
they long to know my ways,
like a nation that wants to act with integrity
and not ignore the law of its God.
They ask me for laws that are just,
they long for God to draw near:
‘Why should we fast if you never see it,
why do penance if you never notice?’
Look, you do business on your fast-days,
you oppress all your workmen;
look, you quarrel and squabble when you fast
and strike the poor man with your fist.
Fasting like yours today
will never make your voice heard on high.
Is that the sort of fast that pleases me,
a truly penitential day for men?
Hanging your head like a reed,
lying down on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call fasting,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me
– it is the Lord who speaks –
to break unjust fetters and
undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and break every yoke,
to share your bread with the hungry,
and shelter the homeless poor,
to clothe the man you see to be naked
and not turn from your own kin?
Then will your light shine like the dawn
and your wound be quickly healed over.
Your integrity will go before you
and the glory of the Lord behind you.
Cry, and the Lord will answer;
call, and he will say, ‘I am here.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):3-6,18-19 © |
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps129:5,7 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word,
because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Or: | cf.Amos5:14 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Gospel | Matthew 9:14-15 © |
When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast
John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’
OBJECTIVE OF FASTING IS FOR FEASTING WITH THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 58:1-9; PS 51:3-6,18-19; MATTHEW 9:14-15]
The theme of today’s scripture readings is clear. Fasting of course is one of the three main pillars of the Lenten spiritual exercises. However, the liturgy is concerned with the right motivation and disposition for fasting. It is important that we get our perspective right from the outset when it comes to fasting lest we fast in vain.
Quite often people fast for the wrong reasons. This explains why fasting has not done them much good. Some fast simply out of habit and tradition, or simply because it is a Church law or admonition. Many fast for vanity reasons, like losing weight so that they look more presentable. Some fast for ostentatious reasons, such as to boast to others how religious they are. Others fast for selfish reasons, to save money. “Fasting like yours today will never make your voice heard on high. Is that the sort of fast that pleases me, a truly penitential day for men? Hanging your head like a reed, lying down on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call fasting, a day acceptable to the Lord?”
What, then, is the primary reason for fasting? The gospel hinted on the real reason for fasting when Jesus said, “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them and then they will fast.” In other words, the objective of fasting is to feast in the Kingdom of God, to celebrate our wedding with the Lord who is our bridegroom. Fasting is to be in union with the Lord in love and joy. This explains why even during the Lenten season, we do not fast on Sundays because they are solemn celebrations of the resurrection of the Lord. The forty days of fasting begins from Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday with the exclusion of all Sundays in Lent. Hence we speak of a 40-day fast in Lent when strictly speaking the season of Lent is not 40 days.
How then does fasting help us to achieve our union with the Lord?
Firstly, fasting helps us to strengthen our prayer life as it gives us the disposition for prayer. Fasting is the soul of prayer and the power of prayer. Prayer is the first pillar of the Lenten exercise. For prayers to be efficacious and fervent, it must be complemented by fasting. By fasting, it shows our earnestness and sincerity in what we are praying for. Even if we do not have any urgent petition to ask from the Lord, fasting gives us the right spirit for prayer. It helps us to be more attentive to the prompting of the Spirit.
Secondly, fasting helps us to identify with the sufferings of our fellowmen. It helps us to feel with the hunger of the poor, which in turn can help us to understand our own spiritual hunger. Hence, fasting strengthens the third pillar of the Lenten exercises, which is almsgiving. True prayer and fasting must lead to works of charity. The fruit of prayer is always charity. Without charity, our prayer and fasting become mere spiritual exercises and external performances. The Lord reprimanded His people, “Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks – to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin? Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.”
Thirdly, fasting helps us to discipline ourselves. It teaches us self-discipline. If we cannot discipline our body, how can we discipline our mind and our tongues and our thoughts? All sins we know begin with a thought and a desire in the heart before it gives birth to action. So we cannot have real control over our sensual needs if we do not first control our mind, the way we think. Fasting is meant to create positive thoughts in us by contemplating on the passion and the suffering of Christ. As we meditate on His passion and vicarious sacrifice for us, His innocent and unjust suffering on the cross, we too find strength to surrender our body and our will to the Lord. We too can find strength to suffer with the Lord and for His people in mind and in heart. So fasting is a necessary means to overcome the temptations of the Evil One. This explains why Jesus fasted before facing the temptations of the Evil One.
In the final analysis, fasting is to fast from our sins and vices. The Lord says, “Look, you do business on your fast days, you oppress all your workmen; look, you quarrel and squabble when you fast and strike the poor man with your fist.” If we want to seek the Lord, we need to live a life of integrity. “Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here.'” This presupposes that we fight against sin in our lives. “Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet. Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob. They seek me day after day, they long to know my ways, like a nation that wants to act with integrity and not ignore the law of its God.” By so doing, we live a life in union with Christ in love and truth.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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