Fasting

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Hello World! Sorry I didn’t keep my promise about writing every two weeks. It looks like keeping up a blog is harder than I thought. No problem though, I’ll still write when I can.

Today I think I’ll write about fasting. Fasting is kinda an interesting concept. It’s when you intentionally go without food for a certain period of time to grow in your relationship with God. Catholics are supposed to fast every Friday since that’s the day Jesus died on the cross. It’s a way for us to remember. Unfortunately, alot of people don’t fast on Fridays, since they just aren’t in the habit and don’t really think it’s a big deal.

I didn’t used to fast on Fridays either; it just wasn’t something my family (or at least most of us) did. When I went to college though, it was a completely different story! Everyone talked about fasting on Friday. One of the most common (and easiest to remember!) ways to fast is by not eating “meat”. Fish doesn’t count. Nobody would eat meat on Fridays, but if someone did, they usually ended up doing some other thing to make up for it, like praying a rosary or something. If anyone saw you eating meat, they’d assume you’d do something else to make up for it. It would be kinda embarrassing if everyone was making this little sacrifice out of love for God, but you weren’t simply because you “weren’t used to it.”

We’re allowed to eat fish on Fridays because of it’s importance to Christians. Jesus called us to be “fishers of men”, and early Christians even used a fish symbol to identify themselves.

So out of positive peer pressure, I began to fast on Fridays. I have to say, I think it’s been a pretty good change too! It makes Fridays seem special. Whenever I go to the fridge on Fridays and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of ham and cheese, I think “This is for you, God, because I love You and because You died for my sins.”

Another time that Catholics fast is during Lent. Then we fast because one of the most important times of the year is coming up. At the end of Lent we celebrate Jesus’ passion, when He suffered and died and went through all sorts of amazing and terrible things for us. And immediately afterwards we celebrate Easter, the best part of the whole liturgical year.

Some special days in Lent we’re supposed to do a full fast – only one meal except for a couple “snacks”. Sometimes I accidently eat so little on weekends that it would count as a full fast if it were done intentionally, but that’s just because I lie around all day and skip meals. It’s a while different experience when you’re doing it intentionally. As you go about your day, you feel weak and kinda hungry occasionally, but you don’t mention it or let it show. Jesus said “when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites” (Mt 6:16). This makes your hunger a wonderful sacrifice, a constant reminder of the suffering and love Jesus went through for us, and a constant opportunity to say “Yes, I will do this for You, Lord.” It doesn’t make the pangs lessen, but it’s much better than simply being hungry because you’re too lazy to feed yourself. Being hungry out of fasting makes your pain an opportunity to be joyful!

Instead of just skipping meat, a more intense way to fast is to only eat bread and water. It's a way to take the sacrifice to the next level.

I think that’s enough for today though. I pray that reading this changes your attitude towards fasting, as well as the other difficult things in life. Sure they’re hard, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Choose to make it more!

– Ben