After celebrating Christmas, we entered into the Ordinary Time. Since the term, ordinary in English most often means something that is not special, many of us think that this Ordinary Season refers to parts of the liturgical calendar that are unimportant. In fact, Ordinary Time is a period of a time that has its routine much like the cycle of our ordinary lives. Against the backdrop of the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ – the major events of our Christian faith, Ordinary Time gives us the chance to reflect more deeply on the life of Jesus and what it means to follow him. In light of the life of Jesus, this ordinary season guides us to reflect on the high and low points of our lives. This season is symbolized by the color green in order to symbolize hope.
In this month of March we make a transition from Ordinary Season to the Season of Lent. With Ash Wednesday, the Season of Lent, which is mostly penitential in nature, is upon us again. From our younger days, we have been taught about certain religious and spiritual disciplines that we were asked to observe during this forty days of Lent. Though some of the practices of Lent have changed over the years, its purpose has always been the same. Lent is a special time for prayer, penance, various sacrifices (fasting), and Good works in preparation of the celebration of Easter. It is a time to repent for our sins and to renew our faith.
Fasting in Lent, by its very nature is the putting off our physical needs in order to tap into higher realms of meaning. Fasting, along with prayer and almsgiving, is a way of deepening our spiritual life. At the same time, fasting opens our hearts to the weak and poor. Pope Francis noted that in Lent we are invited to open the doors of our heart to others because each person is a gift, whether he/she is our neighbor or an anonymous pauper.
Fasting inspires and helps us to feel the hunger of our neighbors who may not have their necessary basic needs. We are asked to fast, not just to attain our personal selfish goals that can be mostly self-centered. Fasting is not the same as dieting that we go on in order to lose weight. In the same line, fasting has nothing to do with eating disorders, such as starving to death like an anorexic. The book of Isaiah describes the kind of fasting God desires, as it states,
Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the ppressed, breaking off every yoke? Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into our house; Clothing the naked ……. (Isaiah 58:6-8).
Fasting helps to focus our attention, move our hearts, and give new vision to our lives. In this modern world, a great number of people fast for religious and spiritual reasons. Fasting is associated with all the major religions of the world and it is practiced at certain times in all of them. About 800 million religious Hindus fast on the Ekadashi day in the month of Shravan. In Buddhism, while fasting is practiced by some lay Buddhists during full moon day, others forego food as an aid for their meditation practices. Again, Buddhist monks and nuns commonly do not eat after noon time (mostly, they eat one meal a day). Then, in Islam, nearly one billion Muslims fast daily during the entire month of Ramadan (which is the ninth month). Again, nearly 14 million Jews fast during the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), as well as on other special occasions. The discipline of fasting calls the believers in these religions to a selfcontrolling way of living through which they deny certain cravings. Fasting from food is a practice rooted deeply in Jude-Christian history. Jewish and Christian Holy Scriptures alone has almost 74 references to fasting. Some upright and saintly personalities, such as Ahab, Anna, Esther, Hannah, Ezra, John the Baptist, and the Disciples of Christ used to practice prolonged fasting. Moses, King David, Daniel, and Prophet Elijah fasted for 40 days. Jesus fasted 40 days in the desert while He was tested before starting His ministry. All these saintly figures relate fasting directly to actions that provide care for others. Also, their abstaining from food led them to focus on God and also to open their mind for spiritual
illumination.
Let this time of Lent be a special time for prayer, penance, various sacrifices (fasting), and Good works in preparation of the of the celebration of Easter that is our own rising to new life in the risen Jesus.
— Fr. Niranjan Rodrigo, Ph.D.
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