REFLECTIONS:
The elderly woman, Anna, worshiped night and day, fasting and praying (Lk 2:37). Jesus fasted: "After
fasting 40 days and nights, he was hungry" (Mt 4:2).
Scripture contains many references to fasting, a practice which has been lost in the modern day Church. The scriptural concept of fasting is
often misunderstood and therefore, not seen in its proper role in the spiritual life.
The word fasting comes from a Hebrew word which literally means "to
cover or shut one's mouth." The Greek word means
"not to eat. "Strictly speaking, fasting is a voluntary
abstinence from food, not as an end in itself, but as
a means to holiness. Practically speaking, fasting goes beyond the realm of food into our actions and thoughts.
In one of the early messages at
Medjugorje, the Virgin Mary reportedly said that we have forgotten
the value of fasting. She reminded us that wars and natural catastrophies can be averted by prayer and
fasting. The Virgin said that many people have substituted almsgiving for fasting. By excluding an
important element in growing in holiness which cannot
be gained otherwise.
We are all called to fast, even the elderly, the sick, and the young. However, not all are called to fast in
the same way. We should seek God, ask His direction and than follow the impulses we sense coming form Him. Some persons may be urged to fast on bread and water(the "best" fast according to Mary), others
may be called to give up smoking, alcohol or TV.
Others may follow the former Lenten practice of eating two small meals not to exceed the third meal. Fasting is not always "not eating". Some may do
penance by eating what they don't like, or not speaking the sharp remark to a fellow worker or
friend. Whatever we are called upon to do, we ought to fast with the same vigor and enthusiasm as we
respond to Mary's call to deeper prayer. The important dimension is that we begin to fast and allow God to use the fasting to move us forward on our way of holiness. As we go deeper and deeper into the path
God has laid out for us, we will also change
our way of fasting, ultimately, perhaps, reaching the "best fast", as explained by the Mother of God.
During Lent, 1988, Mary reportedly told the pilgrims gathered on Mt. Podbrdo that she was pleased with their fast and their Lenten penances, but she
would be more pleased if they would fast from sin.
Mary is our Mother, our model, and our teacher.
Through the messages at Medjugorje, Mary is
educating us along the way of holiness and inviting us to be converted to her Son, Jesus Christ. Mother that
she is, she desires each of us to become holy and to grow in God's love. Fasting is an
important dimension in this growth. Let us begin by asking Mary to intercede for us so that our minds will be open to hear the message proclaimed here and that
our hearts will be changed to follow Mary's call to fast.
Sister Isabel Bettwy, Editor: INTRODUCTION
My purpose in writing this booklet is to encourage you
to fast. At the end of this booklet, I would like to say to you, "Begin to fast," and I hope you will respond, "I will." I pray that, through fasting
you
will discover all the treasures that God has put inside you and that through fasting your longing for
God will grow within you from day to day.
I pray that through fasting you will discover the God of love, of hope, of faith, and of peace, in trust and in hope. Through fasting, you will receive the strength to overcome the evil that is within you, because fasting should serve that cause also. And so, was we begin, may Almighty God bless you through Mary, the Queen of Peace, the Father, and the Son and
the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
PART 1: FASTING IS NECESSARY
Time and time again, the evangelists speak about fasting and report that Jesus recommended fasting to make progress in the spiritual life. What
Jesus has said about fasting can be summed up this way:
Fasting is as necessary as prayer.
~ Mt6:16
The resolution to fast (or to pray) ought to be a pure
intention, free from all self-righteousness or pride.
Consider the case of the Pharisee who used
His prayer to show off his piety and to express his contempt for the
publican, a truly humble man (cf. Lk 18:9-14)
Jesus declared that His disciples would fast just like
John's disciples, but not until He would have departed from this world: "As long as the bride-groom is
present, the wedding guests do not fast" (cf.Mt9:15-16).
When Jesus explained to His disciples why they were unable to deliver a man from demonic possession, He ascribed a special power to fasting. On that
occasion He stated that certain demons cannot be expelled except by prayer, and the evangelist Mark adds, "...and by fasting" (cf.Mk 9:29).
According to Luke, Jesus did not eat for the 40 days He was in the desert. In other words, Jesus fasted before
proclaiming the Gospel. This was immediately after His baptism in the river Jordan. (cf.Lk 4:1-4) While Jesus did not explicitly command His disciples to practice fasting, it would seem obvious that He expected them to do so.
PART 2: FASTING IN THE EARLY CHURCH
Fasting formed part of the Jewish tradition, and it is known to have been practiced also in Greco-Roman
civilization. The Jewish tradition recommended only one official fast-day, the Day of Atonement, which was a day of devotion. However,
people would often fast twice a week, on Monday and on Thursday (cf.Lk18:22).
From the Old Testament we learn that at the time of great difficulties kings and prophets would ask the people to fast
and to pray (cf.Jon3:7). In the Psalms we find revealing verses, such as, "When they were sick, I
put sackcloth on, I humbled my soul with fasting,
murmuring prayers to my own breast" (Ps 35:13), or: "My knees totter from my fasting, and my flesh is wasted of its substance" (Ps 109:24)
The early Church introduced 2 fast-days a week, Wednesday and Friday. Some of the faithful would fast on Saturday as well, in preparation for the Lord's Day. The practice of fasting gradually became more and more widespread. A fast began to be kept for entire weeks, during Holy Week, for example; and as early as the 3rd century, the Church
introduced the 40 fast-day fasting period of Lent, in
preparation for Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.
FASTING REMAINS NECESSARY AS A SIGN OF OUR EXPECTATION
From a theological point of view, fasting would no longer be necessary after the coming of Christ, for
the wedding guests do not have any reason to fast as long as the bridegroom is with them (cf.Mt9:15).
But since Jesus is still to return in His glory, fasting remains necessary as a sign of our
expectation. That perspective gives new sense and meaning to fasting and since it makes us focus on the Lord who is to come, it now acquires an eschatological dimension.
In a word, we may conclude that the Church recognizes fasting, has been practicing it throughout its
history, and has given fasting its true meaning. In certain religious communities fasting has been maintained as a practice up to the present day.
By reading the lives of the Saints, we can
ascertain that they attributed great importance to fasting. In the Rules for his Community, Saint Francis of Assisi urged his friars to keep 34 days fasts during the year (Lent, before the feast of Saint Michael, and from All Saints until Christmas), and to fast every Friday as well.
Nowadays, the requirements of the Church are less
strict. There are, in fact, only 2 days left when fasting is obligatory, Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday.
Even before the events in Medjugorje, which have
restored fasting to the Universal Church, the practice of it went well beyond the minimum requirements of the Church among our people,
especially in Hercegovina. This is undoubtedly due to the influence of Franciscan spirituality. There
are many faithful, especially among the young girls and the mothers of families, who fast on Tuesday(Saint Anthony's day), for the 12 days before
the feast of the Assumption, on the vigil of great feast days and during Lent. There was a time when our people (from Medjugorje and the surrounding
areas) would keep a strict fast even in the summmer, during the heavy work in the fields
PART 3:
FASTING -- A NEW REVIVAL OF ITS PRACTICE
The so-called "messages", like any of the other elements that lend authenticity to an apparition,
cannot contain new revelations about God's
plans concerning us, nor can they reveal new truths regarding the Church. Such "messages" could not possibly innovate or modify the revelation given
by Jesus to the Apostles. Apparitions are always a sign that God continues to address Himself to His
children, and to encourage us to perservere on our
journey towards Him. Most often He calls us through the mediation of Mary. Sometimes Jesus Himself speaks to us. Such interventions are no more than
an encouragement to keep up practices that have been known and have been traditional for a long time. The
call to fasting at Medjugorje which Mary directs to our age is only a repetition of what Jesus had already said, and of what the early Church had put into practice and with such greal zeal.
When we study the Old Testament, and examine in detail the various situations in which the people were urged to fast in those days, we find that prayer and fasting could bring about change or relief even in the most
critical situations.
OUR LADY WANTS TO REEDUCATE US
Let us look at fasting in the context of our own time. When Our Lady asks us to say the Apostles' Creed every day, it would seem that she wants to show
us, in this way that we live in an "impious" situation. She certainly wants to tell us something like this: "It is not enough to say the Creed;
one must radically adhere to God who has given himself to us in an ineffable way in the person of Jesus Christ." That is Our Lady's method of giving
instruction. It is interesting to note that, like all good teachers, she assigns concrete tasks.
Her request that we fast is in accordance with the tradition of the Church. We can also go on record as
saying that her view of our age - which is almost exclusively interested in money, profit, the accumulation of material wealth, greed, and so on - is correct. Our Lady wants to re-educate us. But where should she begin?
FASTING WILL LEAD US TO A NEW FREEDOM OF HEART AND MIND
In the first place, Mary calls us to pray and to fast. By prayer we detach our heart from the good things that tie us to the affairs of this world.
Fasting will lead us to a new freedom of heart and mind. Fasting is call for conversion directed to our body. In a word, it is the process by which
we become free from and independent of all material things.
And as we free ourselves from things outside ourselves from the passions within us that are
keeping our interior lives in chains. This new freedom will make room in our body for new values.
Therefore, fasting liberates us from a certain bondage and sets us free to enjoy happiness.
AN ACTUAL EXPERIENCE
To confirm what I have said so far, I quote a testimony just as it was given to me by a pilgrim to Medjugorje.
"I had begun to fast because my wife and my children did it; I did not want my wife to cook for me alone.
At first, nothing remarkable happened. I
knew that I was distracted in my prayers. I would listen to the word of God, but I did not experience any noticeable effect from it and did not have the
impression that I was changing under its influence. I
would listen to it and then go about my business, but nothing in me was changed.
One day it became imperative to that I change my manner of praying. It seemed to me that my new view of
prayer was the result of the silent reflection which was brought about during my days of fasting. In the
beginning I was constantly battling my need to eat and drink, and would then put off my prayer till the following morning. Once, something happened
which clearly demonstrated the efficacy of prayer.
For a long time I had been on bad terms with my brother, and I had grown accustomed to that
situation. We were not on speaking terms, and it did not bother me in the least that our wives and children did not know each other at all.
Approximately one year after I had begun to fast, I became aware that the situation was causing me distress and making me uneasy.
I continued to pray and fast. And then, one morning, I had the
extraordinary feeling of being
relieved of a burden. I went to see my brother and asked his forgiveness. He was ready also. Praise the
Lord, and thanks be to Him! Now we live as
true brothers. Right now, that is the most important thing to me."
PART 4:
WHAT IS NEEDED IS A RADICAL RETURN TO GOD
Reading this testimony, we notice that fasting was a help to this man in finding his own self again and in having another close look at his relation to God and to other people. As soon as his prayer began to bear fruit in his heart, he did not have to wait long for his new relationship with God to
flow over into a renewed relationship with his brother. How well this example proves that the evil acts of man cause him blindness! What is
needed to make the disposition of our heart and mind change is a resolute, radical return to God.
Fasting facilitates this return.
Fasting is not a end in itself, but it serves toward
conversion: first, on the level of faith, and then, on the social level.
FASTING ASSURES US OF A DYNAMIC STRENGTH
A radical return to God is impossible without prayer.
Prayer will increase in quality and become free when it is combined with fasting. If we are
convinced that the Virgin Mary asks each one of us to be her "mouthpiece" in this atheistic world, we
ought to be willing to fast, and this fasting will then assure us of a dynamic strength.
When we begin to think of ourselves as the masters of life and of the world, and begin to behave accordingly, as if we had no need of God, we show the
premonitory signs of atheism. Fasting is the best means to detect such predispositions in our heart.
Fasting helps us to cling to the will of God,
to understand it better, and thereby, to understand ourselves better. In speaking about fasting, L. Rupcic
said, "The reason and the primary value of
fasting is to be at the service of the faith. It is a simple means which allows man to show, to strengthen, and to stabilize his self-control. Fasting
is the guarantee of his surrender to God in true and sincere faith. As long as man is not yet master of himself (of his senses), he will be unable to
place himself completely in the hands of God."
We know that in the Scriptures, Jesus tells us to pray
without stopping, without ceasing. But on the other hand, day after day we find excuses, and
we say we have no time to pray, or we say that the rhythm of our life is such that we cannot pray. But the depth of the problem does not lie in
whether we have time or do not have time for prayer.
Rather, the problem is whether we know the longing or the necessity for God, for meeting God
through prayer. The more we have and the more we want to have, the less space we have for God and the less time we have for prayer. Or, at least we
are in danger of not having space and time. In this way, we turn more and more to being practical atheists. That means, we are content to possess more
and more material things, to have better food and better drinks, and we believe we can solve all our problems in this way.
This way of behavior and these convictions exclude the
possibility and the necessity of prayer.
Fasting has the special consequence of putting things into proper perspective. As a result of fasting, we learn truths about ourselves more
and more. We experience the truth of all things in new ways. Slowly and surely we realize more and more that we are not self-sufficient, and we
realize that the whole world cannot satisfy the deepest needs of our human heart. Thus, a new way is being opened up for the conviction that we humans
need God.
The first Beatitude; "Happy are those who are poor in spirit, to them belongs the Kingdom of God," can be translated in another way; "Happy
are those who have a desire, a longing for God." The person who is convinced that he is self-sufficient, that he needs nothing deeper or nothing
higher than himself -- that person is not poor before God. It means that he is living in the
convictions that he does not need God, and there lies the problem of prayer. But slowly, through fasting and while we fast, this conviction bursts and we become more and more open for prayer, and that
means we become more open for our meeting, our encounter with God. For that reason we can say fasting is something that cannot be replaced, but rather is something we definitely need.
We need fasting to be able to grow in prayer and especially to grow in prayer of the heart. To say it succinctly,
we find it easier to pray when we fast and we fast better when we pray. There is an old proverb which states: "A full stomach doesn't like to study."
The meaning of this proverb would not be altered if we changed it to, "A full stomach does not like to pray." The physical emptiness brought
on by fasting helps us to realize our spiritual emptiness and need. The experience of a longing or deep desire for God does not go against the
dignity of the human being, but rather, this longing confirms our dignity. We come to know and to experience our dependency on God does not turn us
into slaves, but rather makes us free.
We are created for God, and God is always present for us. In the moment when we are together as friends, as partners for a contract, we feel good.
If the heart becomes poor in the sense that it recognizes its need for God's friendship, then it will
be more able to hear God's word in general. It
will be more ready to meet people and put into practice this bond of friendship. That is the way to
happiness. It is not happiness in the superficial, easy sense, but it is happiness in the sense of inner peace through which the person can be victorious in every difficult or unpleasant
situation.
THROUGH FASTING OUR HEART BECOMES PURE
It is now important to reflect upon another consequence of fasting. Through fasting our hearts become more pure. We see reality in a better way. We
find it easier to see what we have, what we need, and what we don't need. We become free from the inner pressure of wanting and needing to have more
and at the same time forgetting what we have already.
Everything is relative in life. That means, things are not as important as we think sometimes. We live in a
situation of believing that material things are very important. We
forget the dimension of being pilgrims in this world. There
are many people who would be happy if they had a roof over
their heads and just a
little bit of bread every day. And how much happier would they be if they had as much as we have. And yet,
we often are unhappy and not content, although we have so much. The reason for the discontent lies in the fact that we don't see the essential anyone. We have
become blind to the essential. Therefore, we are convinced that we need to have many things.
With fasting, we find it easier to see the essential things of life. Therefore, fasting is so important. In
making us interiorly free, fasting makes it easier for us to move towards God and towards people. In such a
liberated encounter, reconciliation happens. The more we "meet" other people, the less time we will
find for conflicts, negative things, and wars. All conflicts happen because we are stuck to something.
Many Christians are nailed to this world and cannot move. Through fasting they do not become pilgrims, but people on a pilgrimage who search for God and need God. That is the way to a new freedom.
Many people live in a situation of destruction, losing a lot of time and money on very unessential things. They cannot reach out and get through to
the essentials. The pilgrim who is searching for God cannot allow anything like this to happen to himself or herself. Mary wants us, through fasting
and prayer, to become real people searching for God,
together with her. To become a pilgrim of this sort does not mean losing what we have, but rather
it means developing a new relationship by being pilgrim people everyday, by being on a pilgrimage.
We are reminded of the Gospel parables where Jesus underlined the dimension of being on a pilgrimage.
People who are on the road, on their way, don't
allow anything to stop them. They are motivated and carried on by an inner hope of meeting the Lord. When people have lost that hope they begin to
drink, to eat, and even to hit one another. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about the property owner who
planted a vineyard, leased it out to tenant farmers and then went on a journey. When vintage time arrived, he
dispatched his slaves to the tenants to obtain his share of the grapes. The tenants responded by seizing
the slaves, beating one and killing another.
We are also familiar with the parable of the virgins who
had no oil. In these parables, we see situations where the
dimension of waiting was lost. In other words, Mary wants to make us always ready to move. She wants to guide us in growing in the knowledge of the essential and the unessential. Our hearts will become more open to those who are in need.
We will find it easier to recognize the spiritual and the material need of the brother or sister next to us. We could, therefore, speak about the social dimension of fasting.
Many people, in the beginning of the apparitions, asked themselves, "Why does the Lady not insist on social help and so on?" I believe she wanted to
educate us for it before inviting us to do it. Over the years, many invitations have gone out and have fallen on deaf ears, because we are selfish and proud and we do not see the needs of others.
