Chapter Sixteen – Fasting

Our age is in search of an authentic vision of the human person. Matthew asks: “Are we just intelligent animals? Or are we children of God? Are we here to grasp as much pleasure as possible in our brief time or is there a higher calling and purpose to our lives? The way we live, love, work, and participate in society is a direct result of the vision of the human person we subscribe to."

A large part of Matthew’s message on fasting is setup by his discussion on our preoccupation with appearance – namely the thirty billion dollars we spend on diet products. Matthew feels this is a sign of a society that has lost its discipline; a society that is looking for a quick fix; a society that wants a pill that lets them eat whatever they want without repercussions; a society that wants someone to tell us, “You can be healthy and happy without discipline.” The truth is that you cannot be healthy and happy without discipline – the two are directly related to each other.

This preoccupation with our appearance has a direct effect on our vision of the human person. We are a delicate composition of body and soul. This is the essential makeup of the human person. In our present form, the body is temporal, and the soul is eternal. The challenge that our lack of discipline creates is that the body is winning the battle over our soul for the focus in our lives. Fasting is one of the ingenious practices that can help us ensure the body does not become our master. NOTE: fasting is a habit and requires discipline.

One of the key purposes of fasting is to help us become aware of God’s presence in our lives and in the world around us. We know that before Jesus began his public ministry he fasted for forty days in the desert where he was tempted by Satan to abandon his fast. But Jesus replied, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Authentic Christian fasting helps to release us from our attachment to the things of the world and to focus on our eternal life.

While Matthew does an excellent job of providing information on the historical practice of fasting, with its numerous changes throughout our Church history, this is what the Church teaches today. In 1966, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced, “Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.”  

Today the practice of fasting is mostly exercised in the secular world as part of health cures, diet programs and ancient spiritual practices thought to “cleanse” the body of impurities such as oxidants. What is sad is that the world of individualism and hedonism has the discipline to fast but those professing a higher purpose to life have largely abandoned this practice. Matthew hopes that we will see the interrelationship between body and soul and the war that has been taking place; and then decide that our soul should have preeminence in our lives and not our body.   

Matthew suggest we make fasting part of our everyday spirituality by starting with small things, like making smarter decisions on how to react to our cravings. Want a Coke? How about a nice glass of juice or water instead? As we work these actions into our daily routine, as these become our new “habits,” we can move on do a whole day fast once a week (two small meals and one full meal and nothing in-between). Personalize your fast – make it our own special routine.

We can also fast from things other than food. Matthew started fasting from noise and movement. Others fast from judging others, criticizing, swearing, or any other bad habit you might be challenged with. The point of fasting is to turn ourselves away from those things that make us less-than-the-best-version-of-ourselves and towards God where we can become the-best-version-of-ourselves.  

Our lives change when our habits change. Matthew closes by reminding us that "our bodies are vehicles that God has given our souls to experience life in the material realm. Until we get a grip on our bodies, we will never get a grip on life. Until we learn to rein over our bodies we never really experience all that life can be."          

Question

When was the last time you fasted and what do you remember about it? What will be your first small step in making fasting part of your life's daily routine?

In peace,
Dan