From the earliest days of Christianity, the Church has commemorated the forty days preceding Our Lord’s public life as a season of transformation for His faithful followers, during which we are encouraged to follow His example of prayer and fasting. During His desert experience, Jesus was presented with temptations that were both physical and psychological, as mentioned in today’s Gospel. We, too, have faced such circumstances in our own lives, but unlike Jesus, we have succumbed to these temptations and fallen short of meeting these challenges to our spiritual destiny. According to the Church, there are antidotes to these weaknesses in the practice of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. On this Ash Wednesday, I would like to highlight one of them in particular: that of fasting.
For many years, we have expressed this practice in terms of fasting from favorite foods, entertainment, and popular social activities. In his later years, Pope Francis has advocated for another type of fasting to which we should aspire. One of his most urgent appeals focuses on the concept of indifference. According to the dictionary, indifference refers to a lack of interest, concern, or sympathy for people and situations. In St. John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verses 3 to 17, he states:
“But if anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother or sister in need, yet closes his heart against them, how does God’s love abide in them?”
Since 2015, Pope Francis has continually urged the world to fast from greed and to be mindful of what selfishness is doing to our brothers and sisters around the world.
Each of us needs to examine our own lives and ask how we personally contribute to this imbalance of resources. Do we unnecessarily duplicate items we already possess? Are we conscious of the overuse of water and electricity in our homes? These small, unconscious acts only add to an increasing carbon footprint on our global home. Do we deny ourselves some earthly pleasures so that others might survive? Can we give until it hurts?
Regarding our behavior and attitudes toward those whose lives we encounter every day, Pope Francis in 2023 left us a modern-day litany of fasting, which each of us can relate to in its brevity and simplicity. Let us ask ourselves which of the following resonates in our hearts as something we see in ourselves that we could fast from during the next forty days. Let us take a moment to concentrate on these fasting measures:
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
Fast from pressures and be more prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy and gratitude.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.
May the reception of the Eucharist today give us the grace to overcome any acts of indifference and assist us in achieving the kind of fasting that is most pleasing to the heart of our Creator God.
Sister Helen R. Boyd, OP
Sister Helen resides at Dominican Convent, where she serves on the Life Enrichment Committee, co-chairs the Mission Outreach Committee, and organizes transportation for the sisters. She regularly preaches and shares reflections.