What is fasting?
Fasting is required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and involves eating only one full meal on those days. One or two smaller meals may be taken on those days, but the two may not total one full meal. The required fast also does not allow eating anything between meals.
Why do we fast?
First and foremost, the purpose of fasting is conversion, i.e. to change. Our Church categorizes fasting together with prayer and almsgiving, and consider these three as the highest forms of expressing the conversion in our relationship with God and others. The whole Sermon in the Mount (Matthew 6:1-18) also refers to this triad of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.
Thus, fasting is NOT atonement (or making up) for our sins, but as our way of working on those things in our selves that need changing. When we deprive ourselves of certain basic necessities, such as food, then we are training ourselves to have better control of certain undesirable traits that may have already become a natural part of our selves.
If we can fast from eating in one day, then we can certainly be able to, for examples, control our temper a little longer, be extra kind to someone who may irritate us, be a little less harsh to people who don’t meet our expectations, spend a little more time with someone who needs ministering, put more volunteer time in a worthwhile project, be more easily forgiving of another person’s faults, and so on.
This daily and everyday changes in our life is the normal path pointed out by Jesus: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24).
This brings us back to the biblical meaning of “sacrifice.” When the Jews offered a lamb or pigeon as a sacrifice, it was NOT to feed a hungry God. The animal offered symbolized the life of the offeror, and his/her way of saying “I, too, am offering my life, and I will do this by making my life more God-centered.”
Those offering a sacrifice are to allow God’s grace to transform their lives. If the sacrifice does not result in changed lives, then those who offered it have put an obstacle in God’s way, and so the sacrifice has been incomplete!
This is why Hosea said in 6:6: For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts. If we fast simply for fasting’s sake, and we are not renewed in love and forgiveness, then God does not desire our fasting.
Why is fasting grouped together with almsgiving?
The relationship between fasting and almsgiving is a prominent theme in early Christian writings. In a 2nd century text, we read: “In the day on which you fast you will taste nothing but bread and water; and having reckoned up the price of the dishes of that day which you intended to have eaten, you will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some person in want.”
The preaching of the church fathers is clear that whatever saving is realized through one’s fasting belongs to the poor. Thus Gregory the Great preached, “The one who does not give to the poor what he has saved but keeps it for later to satisfy his own appetite, does not fast for God.”
Thus, early on in our Church history, we were encouraged to always accompany our personal sacrifices with acts of service to others. Fasting was meant to also heighten our awareness of our obligation to help others.
What about abstinence?
To abstain is to not eat meat, and is required on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent. (Eggs and dairy products are ok).
It is an act of sacrifice, that helps us grow in freedom to make much bigger sacrifices. Of course, it would not make sense to make the sacrifice of not eating meat, and then eat a wonderful meal of Chilean sea bass and lobster, which you might enjoy even more. Many people eat a vegetarian diet, for a variety of reasons, and eating meat is not even an issue. It should be noted that many people in this world cannot afford to eat meat or do not have access to it. Part of our abstaining from meat can place us in solidarity with so many of our sisters and brothers around the world.
If you don’t already eat meat, or abstaining from meat isn’t a big deal, then it is suggested that you abstain from some food that you really like.
Why Fridays?
Friday has always remained a special day for Christians since it is the day that Jesus died. Friday should be in each week what Lent is in the entire year. Friday is that day when we become a little bit more conscious of our shortcomings so that we can adequately prepare for the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday.
Can I substitute other forms of sacrifices instead of fasting and abstinence?
It is preferred that you conform with our Church’s requirements on fasting and abstinence so that we can be in solidarity with our entire Catholic community during those days.
However, I did come across this practice which may be helpful as an additional practice in helping us in our conversion process.
- Mondays – Do a devotion, like the rosary or visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
- Tuesdays – Make it your “Textless Tuesday” Detach yourself from your life support (cellphone).
- Wednesdays – Go out of your comfort zone in helping others.
- Thursdays – Fast from gossip
- Fridays – Fast from making mental judgments of people
- Saturdays – Your day off.
- Sunday – Feast on Scripture (read the bible chapters at a time).
Sources:
- Father Thomas Ryan, CSP, coordinates ecumenical and interreligious relations for the Paulists and is the author of The Sacred Art of Fasting: Beginning to Practice (SkyLight Paths, 2005). See for the full article: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=18854
- See also: http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/fast-abstinence.html
