By Melanie Rigney
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those
bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking
every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and
the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back
on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound
shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of
the LORD shall be your rear guard. (Isaiah
58:6-8)
For
you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would
not accept it. (Psalm 51:18)
The
disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast
much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding
guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when
the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
(Matthew 9:14-15)
Piety
Lord, I
pledge to fast as You desire… by serving You in all my encounters with Your
people.
Study
The “giving
up” part of Lent is the easy part, isn’t it? That’s not to say it’s simple to
give up smoking or chocolate or wine or computer games or gossiping or losing
one’s temper, but it can be done. After all, it’s only six weeks, right?
Similarly, for adult Catholics, abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent may
take a bit of effort or planning, but with all our seafood and vegetarian
options these days, it’s not difficult.
The
infinitely harder part is the fasting prescribed by God in today’s first
reading from Isaiah: battling injustice and hunger and poverty and isolation.
It’s a fasting of the focus on ourselves and our own needs. It’s a fasting from
worrying about our own problems… and trusting God will help us with them, just
as we serve the least of our brothers and sisters in His name.
Consider
this: For some of those who live on society’s margins, here in the DC area and
around the world, life may feel as it did for the disciples in that wretched
period from Good Friday until the Resurrection, when they were spiritually
fasting, bereft of hope. The disciples’ lives were changed forever on Easter,
though it took the Holy Spirit to set their souls on fire to share the Good
News with all. Many would die horrible deaths in His name. But nothing was
worse than that time of fasting when the bridegroom was taken away, seemingly
forever. In the same way, a gesture of friendship, a warm bed, or a hot meal
may help end the fasting of those we are privileged to serve. Or it may not. We
may never know. But we do know we are called to make the offer in His name.
Action
Rethink
your Lenten plans. Do they include fasting as described in Isaiah?
No comments:
Post a Comment