Easier said than done. I know because the Church was barely out of Ash Wednesday when I was almost ready to throw in the towel.
It really wasn’t because the idea of fast and abstinence is so difficult. Honestly. There are other cultures that commit to more rigorous regulations. Those in Islam, for example, routinely fast from sunrise to sunset during their holy seasons. They go so far as to abstain from water.
As the season progresses, we need to keep in mind that we are doing this first for God’s greater glory — maybe just focus on that, and when Christ rises on Easter Sunday we can know that in our small way, we have walked with him through his Passion and Death.
It boiled down to how I was approaching the season: I didn’t seem to be able to focus on doing the things I committed to either giving up or penances I wanted to embrace.
What was I doing wrong after only one day into the season?
It is, of course, Biblical
Throughout the Old Testament, fasting was an important practice. Moses fasted and prayed to do penance for the sins of Israel. He did that a lot because they murmured a lot.
Other Old Testament figures like King David, Judith, and Esther took on penitential acts like wearing ashes and loincloth in addition to fasting not only for penance but to prepare for fulfilling the work God required of them.
In the New Testament, we see the prophet Simeon and the widow Anna who remained in the Temple night and day doing acts of penance and fasting in order to hasten the arrival of the Messiah.
Their prayers and perseverance were rewarded:
And he (Simeon) had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.And he came by the Spirit to the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he (Simeon) also took him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, Oh Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared before the face of all peoples. (Luke, 2:26–31)
as well as:
Now she (Anna), at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel (Luke 2:38)
Lent’s liturgy opens with the retelling of Our Lord fasting in the desert: Chapter 4 in the Gospel of St. Matthew relates this event, although briefly:
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. (Matt. 4:1–2)
Christ, then, was moved by the Holy Spirit to go to the desert, but the purpose was not to just fast but to be tempted. In preparation for Satan’s three-pronged assault, our Lord fasted and prayed. When he had conquered the devil’s temptations, he was ready to take on his mission of our sanctification and redemption.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from immorality; that every one of you learn how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor.
It has been said that by fasting and meditation on the sufferings of Christ, we can best induce in ourselves proper contrition for our sins. According to My Catholic Faith, we are “commanded to fast and abstain in order that we may control the desires of the flesh, raise our minds more freely to God, and make satisfaction for sin” (pg 243).
We deny ourselves for the glory of God and the good of our souls.
A different perspective: Am I a “useless servant”?
Before throwing in the towel after just one day, I took some time to reflect on not only what I was doing but, why, because clearly trying to induce contrition for my sins by merely following the Church’s precepts during the Lenten season was not working.
I knew that I could do the bare minimum and fulfill my obligation, but if it was within my capabilities to do more, I really should.
Indeed, St. Francis de Sales, in his sermons for Lent chides those of us (as did Our Lord in St. Luke’s Gospel) for being “useless servants” for just doing our duties of our state in life; the bare minimum.
So I asked myself, will merely following the Church’s laws on fasting and abstinence, as well as following the other precepts (under pain of mortal sin) get us heaven? All other things being equal, I suppose so.
So far so good, but why would Our Lord chide his apostles for this sort of mindset? Then I thought about this whole thing from God’s perspective:
Moreover, brethren, even as you have learned from us how you ought to walk to please God — as indeed you are walking — we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus to make even greater progress. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from immorality; that every one of you learn how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor (1 Thessalonians 4:1–4)
I don’t believe any of us are called to be “useless servants”. The Church calls us, therefore, to “fast and abstain on days appointed” in order to encourage us to use the temporal gifts God has given us in order to strengthen our spiritual life. Sort of like serving our Master by mastering the things He has given us or using them with the proper disposition.
The website fasting.com says:
One of the driving concepts behind spiritual and religious fasts is creating a ‘hunger for God’. It’s thought that by consciously neglecting physical needs, like hunger, one can more easily tune in to the metaphysical reality that lies outside of our five senses. The sensation of hunger is also used as a reminder to pray, like an internal mantra.
As the season progresses, we need to keep in mind that we are doing this first for God’s greater glory — maybe just focus on that, and when Christ rises on Easter Sunday we can know that in our small way, we have walked with him through his Passion and Death.
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