Fasting: A Discipline of Lent

Fasting now is a growing trend, but for different reasons. People fast to keep their physical beauty. They want to become slim or to remain slim. Some fast for health reasons. Others fast as their commitment to take care of our planet – to avoid waste of food and to reduce fossil use. Consuming meat consumes more fossil fuel. Still others use fasting as a way of protest, as in hunger strikes.

Long before these reasons for fasting came, religions have already been using and advocating fasting for spiritual reasons. They are ways to promote better self-mastery and to help a person to connect more with one’s own spirit and with God. Thus, fasting and prayer are connected together.

Christianity too promotes fasting. It is one of the disciplines of lent, together with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus did not do away with fasting. But he has given a different reason for it. We fast not only because others do it, but because of our solidarity with Jesus’ suffering. “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast,” (Mt. 9:15) Jesus enjoined.  Hence we fast especially on Fridays when we commemorate the Lord’s passion and death.

There is another reason for Christian fasting. At the time of the prophet Isaiah the people voiced out their complaint to God: "Why do we fast, but you do not see it? afflict ourselves, but you take no note?" (Is 58:3) The answer of God is very instructive: “Is this the manner of fasting I would choose, a day to afflict oneself? To bow one's head like a reed, and lie upon sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh?” (Is 58:5-7)

The essence of Christian fasting in not only to suffer the pangs of hunger but to be open to others. We fast, which means we deny ourselves, so that we can be more sensitive to the situation of others. Hence fasting is related to works of justice and works of charity. We redress wrongs and go out of our way to help those in need. The discipline of fasting means that we control ourselves so that our attention is no longer fixed on ourselves and our wants, but we see more the others in their difficulties. Thus, what we are able to save by denying ourselves we give to assuage the needs of others. We voluntarily suffer hunger so that we know what it is to be hungry, and thus understand better and are moved to help the many others whose circumstances force them to go without food.

Fasting for us Christians then means solidarity with Jesus who suffered for us and solidarity with the poor who are unjustly deprived. Thus it opens us to Jesus and to our brothers and sisters. Penance then is very much connected to prayer and almsgiving.

Side tracking Lent

The fear of the spread of the corona virus, now named COVID-19, is affecting our lives, not only our entertainments and our travels, but also our church activities. The bishops of Singapore and Hong Kong have cancelled masses for the coming month. Here in the Philippines, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has instructed that receiving communion be done by the hand for the time being. Now even our Ash Wednesday imposition of the ashes may also be affected. There are also many public practices that we do during the Lenten season where crowds gather, like the Way of the Cross processions, the recollections, the kumpisalan ng bayan, and especially the Holy Week celebrations. Would these also be affected?

There may be changes in some of the church practices that we do, but let us not be side-tracked by these discussions from the real meaning of the season of Lent which is a season of grace and conversion. Let us go to the core meaning of our rites rather than be confused by changed external practices.

Right now there are already discussions about the imposition of the ashes on Ash Wednesday. In the Philippines we have been used to put the ashes on the forehead. But this is not the only way to do it, nor is it even the original way. In the Bible and in many churches in the world, the ashes are put on the top of the head, not on the forehead. More than where the ash is imposed and in what manner, the meaning is the same. The ashes imposed on us is a call to humility and repentance. Job repented of his challenges to God when God finally spoke to him, and he meekly said: “Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6) We are reminded by Ben Sirac in the Wisdom literature of the Bible: “God holds accountable the hosts of highest heaven, while all mortals are dust and ashes.” (Sir. 17:32)

 Thus while the dust is imposed on us, whether on top of the head or on the forehead, we are reminded of our lowly origin. So the words are said: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” We are also called to repentance, so another formula can be said: “Repent and believe in the Good News.” Humility and repentance are the essence, and these should not be lost in whatever form the ash is imposed on us.

Ash Wednesday opens us to the Season of Lent, the 40-day period of penance, prayer and almsgiving that prepares us for the great event of our salvation: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus (called the Paschal Mystery) which we all participated in during our baptism. This season asks us to take seriously our baptismal commitment to die to sin and to live for God by following Jesus.

Ash Wednesday then is not just a one-time event. It ushers us to a season of renewal. We renew ourselves by self-control (this is the meaning of fasting and abstinence from meat that we do), by generosity (hence we are enjoined to be more generous to the poor by almsgiving), and by prayer. These three are related to each other. By saying no to ourselves (penance), we are able to say yes to others (almsgiving) and to God (prayer). Let us not be side-tracked by the corona virus in living the season of grace this lent.

Christian love vs/and Valentine love

Love is the craze of February, especially of February 14. So we see red hearts everywhere, especially in malls. Love is a much used, and at the same time, mis-used word. People use it often but it can have different meanings for different people. For some “love” is equivalent to “like”, as for example, “I love ice cream” to mean “I like ice cream.” So “I love” can just mean “I like you.” For others, love has a stronger meaning. It involves a lot of emotion and sentimentality. This is the love that people refer to on Valentine’s Day. It is romantic love. Ika nga: kinikilig sa pag-ibig.

Christianity is very much connected to love because of our understanding that God is love which is clearly revealed in Scriptures.

 “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:8)

 “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16)

So when we Christians speak of love we first of all speak of God’s love, because he is the source and model of love.

 “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” (1 Jn. 4:10)

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 Jn. 4:19)

God loves by giving us his best, his only-begotten Son.

 “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 Jn. 3:16)

The love of God is characterized by giving. So we too are enjoined to love by giving, even our very lives.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.” (Jn. 15:13)

Here comes the contrast between Christian love and love that many people associate with Valentine’s Day. Christian love is deeper because its source is God. It is more than just emotion or sentimentality which is temporary. Christian love is commitment, not for the good of the lover but for the good of the beloved, even to the point of sacrificing and denying oneself for the sake of the other. Thus the Christian image of love is Jesus Crucified or the Sacred Heart of Jesus – pierced and wounded heart yet burning with love.

But this is also the origin of Valentine love, because St. Valentine was a martyr. He showed his love by giving his life. It is just so unfortunate that this deep, self-sacrificing love has been narrowed down, and been very much commercialized in our world today.

For us Christians, February is not only the month of love but also the month of life. It is Pro-Life Month. Love and life are so much connected to each other. True love is life-giving. Life is nurtured in love. Love and life are brought together in the family. The family is formed by a man and woman so committed to each other in love that they tie their lives together permanently, whatever may come, health, sickness, poverty, or wealth. This love is open to life. So they are ready to receive the gift of children. The children that come about because of love grow in an atmosphere of love in the family. Therefore, to destroy and weaken the family is to attack life and love.

Can one celebrate love on Valentine’s Day and promote divorce, safe-sex unions, death penalty, abortion and contraception? All of these weaken families and destroy life. To love is to promote and defend life and family.

Do not be afraid but take care

The 2019 n-Corona Virus is now the concern all over the world. It has spread so fast. It was detected only last December in Wuhan China and already it has infected 17,480 people in 15 countries causing 362 deaths, the first death outside of China being in the Philippines. The numbers are rising every day. There is really a need to be concerned. If unstopped, the spread of viruses can kill thousands, and even millions of people, just like the so-called Spanish flu that killed more than 50 million in 1918 – more than the casualty of World War I.

To be concerned, however, does not mean to be afraid, much less to feel helpless. Proper, timely and true information is needed to avoid this. False news can cause panic on one hand, and it can also create complacency on the other hand. The situation is serious but steps are being taken to arrest its spread. Already there are notices on what to avoid and what to do, like avoiding unnecessary contacts with people, to wash one’s hands frequently, to wear face mask in risky places, etc. One important thing to do is to have a healthy lifestyle, like having enough sleep, eating healthy food, and proper exercise, because when one is healthy, one’s immunity to illness is strong.

In all these, the common good and the safety of the people should be the primary consideration of governments and institutions, not political expediencies, much less profit concerns. Therefore, true and timely information is to be given to all. This includes not only the extent of the spread and the death caused, but also those who have recovered and the cures that are being discovered. We need not only bad news but also good news, and the latter also abound.

It is important that information be given about the initiatives being taken to show solidarity and concern to all. It is very heartwarming that the Vatican State, small as it is, has sent more than 600,000 medical masks to the provinces of Hubei, Zhejiang and Fujian in China at the initiative of solidarity of the Pope’s Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Vatican Pharmacy and the Missionary Center of the Chinese Church in Italy. Inspiring gestures such as these should multiply and create a global solidarity.

As Christians we all can contribute to this global solidarity also by our prayers. All through history we have seen that plagues have been stopped not only through medical means but also through prayers and great acts of charity. Wherever we are, in whatever state of life, in sickness and in health, we all can pray. Let us implore the Heavenly Power to protect us, to stem the spread of the disease, to cure the infected, to receive the souls of those who have died and to comfort the bereaved. This is a big resource that we Christians have – the power of solidarity in prayer and in charity.

So when we say “to take care,” we mean not only to take necessary precautions for our protection, but it also means to “give care,” that is, to care for the others. We can go out of our way to help others to spread proper information, to extend our hands – and our pockets – in charity, and to lift up our hearts in prayer.