Why do we observe a fast? Oh because it’s Lent and therefore we are obliged to fast unless we have valid reasons not to! Or not so nice if I eat but everyone else is fasting! What if fellow catholics see that I’m not fasting or worst still non Christians enquire why I’m not fasting! Or better yet, the Lord knows my heart so there is no need for these external observances!
Unless we know for certain why we would want to observe a fast, the act in itself will not bear fruit.
For one it is an emptying of self so that the Lord can fill us with His grace. It can serve as a penitential act for having sinned against the Lord our God. It is the jumpstarts our journey to metanoia, drawing closer to the Lord through other observances such as almsgiving, daily reading of scripture, quiet time with the Lord. An all these must lead us to loving our brethren more than ever before.
Only then we be shall be fruitful for Him, and can stand ready to meet our Bridgroom. Amen
________
First reading
Isaiah 58:1-9
The sort of fast that pleases me
Thus says the Lord:
Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet.
Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob.
They seek me day after day, they long to know my ways, like a nation that wants to act with integrity and not ignore the law of its God.
They ask me for laws that are just, they long for God to draw near:
‘Why should we fast if you never see it, why do penance if you never notice?’
Look, you do business on your fast-days, you oppress all your workmen; look, you quarrel and squabble when you fast and strike the poor man with your fist.
Fasting like yours today will never make your voice heard on high.
Is that the sort of fast that pleases me, a truly penitential day for men?
Hanging your head like a reed,
lying down on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call fasting,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks – to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor,
to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin? Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.
Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here.’
________
Gospel
Matthew 9:14-15
When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast
John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’
CatholicJules.net 