16 Feb 2018
There’s a spiritual benefit to the discipline of
fasting. It recalls the desert
experience, and how in that setting we are challenged to rely more on God than
on worldly nourishment. But there’s also
more to fasting. And Scripture today
reminds us of that.
Fasting is a reminder that we’re not yet in heaven. Even though heaven has already broken into
our lives, we’re still not entirely there.
We’re “away from the Bridegroom” Jesus.
And so our feasting with
happiness that God has called us to himself is also mixed with fasting in a spirit of longing to be
definitely with God.
And then the Prophet Isaiah brings to our awareness the
social aspect of fasting: fasting from being resentful or proud, fasting from being
neglectful of those in need, fasting from self-centeredness, and so on, and so
on.
As part of our Lenten discipline, we fast. But we don’t do it mechanically or
absentmindedly. We do it for some very
definite purposes: as a way stop feeding the stomach, and start feeding the
soul; as a reminder that we’re not yet in the feast of heaven; and as a way to
look outward, toward those in need, and toward our God.
May God bless us and make our fasting fruitful.
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