February 22nd Fast

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JMJ

"You will begin most appropriately, and with hope of the greatest profit, to recall men to the observance of the holy law of fasting, if you teach the people this: penance for the Christian man is not satisfied by withdrawing from sin, by detesting a past life badly lived, or by the sacramental confession of these same sins. Rather, penance also demands that we satisfy divine justice with fasting, almsgiving, prayer, and other works of the spiritual life. Every wrongdoing--be it large or small--is fittingly punished, either by the penitent or by a vengeful God. . . Finally, those spurred on by penance do not seek escapes by which they might withdraw from fasting, nor do they seek various subtleties to break ecclesiastical law."

(Appetente Sacro, On the Spiritual Advantages of Fasting, Encyclical of Pope Clement XIII, 1759)

Perhaps the most difficult discipline in our Faith is that of fasting.  Especially in our culture, when every need is met so readily, every passion easily satiated, it can be quite arduous to form the vital practice of fasting.  The evil one convinces us that it is a medieval tradition; he points to Scripture passages which seem to say that God does not desire this penance.  Did not Christ himself say not to act like the Pharisees who go about performing public deeds?  Ah yes, but did not Christ also say,"do and observe all that they tell you"?  Did not Christ Himself begin His ministry by fasting in the desert?  In his Lenten Message of 2009, Pope Benedict XVI recalls the words of St. Basil, pointing to the fact that fasting was one of the original precepts:

"Fasting was ordained in Paradise.  The first injunction was delivered to Adam, 'Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.' 'You shall not eat' is a law of fasting and abstinence. . . Fasting. . . strengthens strong men. . .  is the soul's safeguard, the body's trusty comrade, the armor of the champion, the training of the athlete."

We may say that we are not strong enough, that our situation in life does not allow for such extreme penances.  But then we risk being like those that Pope Clement speaks of, those who "seek escapes by which they may withdraw from fasting. . ."  Perhaps we think we are not made of the stuff of saints, but then we should rid ourselves of the corrupt stuff that we are made of, and fill it up with some saintly substance.  Blessed John Paul II, in a weekly General Audience he gave in 1979, said the following:

"Renunciation of sensations, stimuli, pleasures and even food or drink, is not an end in itself. It must only, so to speak, prepare the way for deeper contents by which the interior man "is nourished". This renunciation, this mortification must serve to create in man the conditions to be able to live the superior values, for which he, in his own way, hungers."

When we learn to renounce our will as relates to our sensual passions (with regards to eating, drinking, sleeping, visual stimulation, etc.), it becomes more easy to obey God's will and live a virtuous life.  In his Lenten message of 2009, the Pope consistently returns to this theme of conforming ourselves to God's will:

"[Christ] Himself sets the example, answering Satan, at the end of the forty days spent in the desert that 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God' (Mt 4,4). The true fast is thus directed to eating the 'true food,' which is to do the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4,34). If, therefore, Adam disobeyed the Lord’s command “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” the believer, through fasting, intends to submit himself humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy."

 During this season of Lent, and in particular on Fridays during Lent (and year-round), let us be mindful that Christ did not look to suffer less, but to suffer more.  He did not allow Himself to die at the pillar where He was scourged; he did not allow Himself to die fallen under the weight of the Cross; He did not allow Himself to die after he was first nailed.  No, he suffered His whole Passion, accepting each humiliation, each horrific blow, each torturous wound with a heart completely renounced to the will of the Father, and a heart completely in love with each of us.

Remember, each little renunciation of our will, is an act of love to God.  We can say truly with Christ,". . . [Father] not as I will, but as you will."  For just as each step towards Calvary was an act of  love, so too, each mortification, each denial of our own desires (sensual, physical, and emotional) is a step with Christ on the road of the Cross.  Let us slowly climb to the heights of Calvary, and so ascend to the heights of Love.

"If you are able to fast, you will do well to observe some days beyond what are ordered by the Church, for besides the ordinary effect of fasting in raising the mind, subduing the flesh, confirming goodness, and obtaining a heavenly reward, it is also a great matter to be able to control greediness, and to keep the sensual appetites and the whole body subject to the law of the Spirit; and although we may be able to do but little, the enemy nevertheless stands more in awe of those whom he knows can fast." (St. Francis deSales)