September 6th Fast

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JMJ

"And they said to Him, 'The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.  And Jesus said to them,' Can make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in those days." (Lk. 5:33-35)

There is no question that we live in a time of great turmoil and seemingly unparalleled vice.  Seen and unseen forces aggressively erode the foundation of society: marriage and man's dignity as a child of God.  And so, our greatest recourse is prayer and fasting.  If one is to call himself a Christian, desiring salvation for himself, his family, the world, these means are not an option, they are a necessity. If one were a commander, sending his soldiers into battle, would he send them without a helmet, without a sword, allow them to stand defenseless before a powerful foe?  This certainly would be absurd, but how often do we enter the battle or place our spouses, children, friends, relations in an untenable position by refusing ourselves the means to combat the evil forces and temptations that lie in wait?

An army does not build it self up in one night and so too, we can not fortify ourselves or others in one day.  It must be done deliberately and slowly, consistently and frequently.  Denial of self must be a daily discipline, and in this way it will become a habitual practice.  Are these not what the virtues are, simply good habits practiced and performed?  And God, in His goodness, offers many opportunities to sacrifice each day, even asking us to sacrifice choosing what we sacrifice.  St. Francis de Sales says:

""It is, I believe, a greater virtue to eat without preference what is put before you and in the order it is put before you, whether you like it or dislike it, than always to choose the worst.  Although this latter way of life seems more austere, the former demands more resignation for by it we renounce not only our taste but our choice as well."

We are aware that in heaven the angels and saints live in perfect accordance with God's will.  And so, if we are to desire that perfect beatitude we must too learn resignation, even and especially when we sacrifice and fast.  Pride cannot enter into fasting or prayer less its efficaciousness is lost.  Saint Francis de Sales later says:  

"So also, to be cured of our vices, it is good indeed to mortify the flesh but it is still more necessary to cleanse our affections and purge our hearts." 

So then, let us resolve to persevere in prayer, to make courageous small sacrificial acts, and so do as St. Paul says in his Letter to the Ephesians:

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Eph. 6:11)