Dear Parishioners:
Many people undertake diets to lose weight and get healthier. A trendy diet these days is the intermittent fast diet. This diet establishes an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn't specify which foods to eat but rather when to eat them. Standard intermittent fasting methods involve daily 16-hour fasts or fasting for 24 hours, twice per week. I leave it to the medical community to determine if such a diet is fruitful and healthy.
However, the fasting we take up during Lent is a spiritual fast. While we do fast from extra food on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, our fasting is truly a call to sacrifice something not to become physically healthier but rather spiritually healthier. We fast or give things up as a reminder to remove items in our lives that get in the way of our relationship with God.
When we feel hungry or choose not to do things we desire, it reminds us that everything we have is a gift from God. We strive to hunger for more of God and less of self. Our fasting mirrors Christ’s fast in the wilderness for forty days as we seek to hunger for what he hungers. Fasting is more than giving up treats and pleasures. There are other things from which we should also fast.
We can fast from noise by turning off TVs, computers, and phones. Instead, pray in silence or come to First Friday Adoration. In his outstanding book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise, Robert Cardinal Sarah suggests: "Without silence, God disappears in the noise. And this noise becomes all the more obsessive because God is absent. Unless the world rediscovers silence, it is lost. The earth then rushes into nothingness."
This Lent, we should fast from noise and rediscover silence. Pope Francis urges fasting from gossip. He said: "It's so rotten, gossip. In the beginning, it seems to be something enjoyable and fun, like a piece of candy. But at the end, it fills the heart with bitterness and also poisons us." We can fast from talking about our family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Idle gossip is not only hurtful at times it’s very sinful. Try fasting from gossip.
We can fast from “Busyness.” Our culture grants a badge of honor to those who take up "busyness." However, being too busy often distracts us from other, more important things like family, faith, and God. It prevents us from hearing God's voice and appreciating God's blessings. This Lent, slow down and pray. Don’t be too busy to be with the Lord.
We should fast from complaining. How often do we complain about something we don't like or cannot accept? In Lent, try to be more grateful for what we have rather than complain about what we don't. Crabby complaints and caustic criticism can be toxic, polluting the attitudes of those around us. They tear down rather than build up a community. Fasting from complaining calls us to be part of a solution rather than contribute to a problem.
Finally, we might fast from excuses. The parents of the great Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter never permitted him to use the word "can't" around the house. They suggested that anything was possible with hard work and dedication. The virtue of hope reminds us that all things are possible with God.
We can change, resist temptations, avoid sin, and follow the path of virtue and holiness. The Saints show us the way from sin to sanctity can indeed be done. This Lent, fast from saying "can't" to the Lord and embrace "I can" for Christ.
Next weekend we welcome two very dynamic preachers, Dominican Friars Fr. James Mary Sullivan, OP, and Fr. Justin Mary Bolger, OP, for our Lenten Parish Mission. They are preaching all the Masses and then each night are preaching a Mission Talk at 7:00 pm. See the Mission schedule in the bulletin. The Mission entitled "Living for the Other Side," features music from the Hillbilly Thomists. This group is a band of Dominican Friars who play bluegrass music. Fr. Jordon, a talented musician, is a band member. The Mission is our time to retreat into prayer and reflection as we seek to convert more fully to Christ. Please join us either in person or via live stream.
Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Pray, fast, and give alms!