Do you have these small habits that you can't get rid of? You fight harder but they seem to intensify here is the answer to how to surrender the control of your body to your Spirit. Though your body might ask or be asked to do a lot of things it will only do what the Spirit agrees to. During lent, we are encouraged to Fast; why? What are the benefits?
Fasting and Abstaining are different, linked together and sometimes used for the same things.
to Abstain is to restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something.
to Fast is the willing abstinence or reduction from some or all food, drink, or both for a period of time.
From these definitions we understand that Fasting is a form or part of Abstinence.
From the book Of Joel from which we have the first reading on Ash Wednesday or the Book of Samuel with King David, or Jonas with the people of Nineveh, Esther praying for her people, Daniel praying for his people... All these prove that Fasting is a Biblical tradition used mostly to repent and pray for forgiveness but also for interceding for others as Daniel and Esther did.
Our Mother the church as any other mother looks also on the wellbeing of her children and when we grow up, we are mostly encouraged to abstinence from things found in our daily lives (TV, alcohol, meat, anger...) to offer more time to our Lord.
But as we grow up and really encounter Jesus then we are requested to really fast but wisely according to our strength and abilities. which will allow us to easily abstain for those previous things that may hinder our relationship with God.
💫 3-3-3
"Sin is crouching at your door; you are it's object of desire, but you can master it"
Most of us would consider this as a verse from a letter of Saint Paul or Another Apostle but No, this is the advice of God to Cain in Gen 4,7 .
Let's now look at Cain's father Adam who ate the fruit influenced by what St John describes in his first letter (1 John 2,16) as:
1. the lust of flesh( the fruit was good as food for the body)
2. the lust for the eyes (it was a delight for the eyes which makes you want to possess it)
3. the pride of life (it was a source of wisdom)
These are the main desires we fight each and every day on earth and they are sometimes resumed as the 3Ps:
1.Pleasure,
2.Possessions and
3.Power
Jesus was tempted with the same three things in the desert (Mt 4, 1-11):
1. Satan asked him to change stone into bread (Pleasure)
2. He promised him to possess all the kingdom of the world (Possessions)
3. He asked him to show his Power by Jumping from a high place (Power)
But because Jesus was fasting and praying, he was able to gain Victory over all these temptations.
What God told Cain that he can master sin, Jesus showed how you can master it (Mt 6, 1-18) and He recommended three things:
1.Pray (for Humility)
2.Fast (to control pleasure)
3.Give Alms (to detach ourselves from possessions)
which are found also in the Gospel read on Ash Wednesday.
Fasting should bring us closer to God making us realize our sins...joining our suffering to our Lord's praying for the world and as the quote says : "If you stop sinning you will not necessarily get closer to God, but if you get closer to God he will surely keep you from sinning"
And as you fast in lent and see the benefits, you will most probably end up taking another tradition of the church of fasting twice in a week. For Jesus wants us to fast. When he was asked why John's disciples were fasting and not his, he replied saying that as long they are with the bridegroom they can't but time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast (Mt 9, 14,15) .
"Behold, now is a very acceptable time; now is the day of Salvation”; This is the last verse of the second reading on Ash Wednesday from St Paul to the Corinthians. It urges all of us if you were thinking of repenting and praying... NOW is the right time to do it!
"...Fast and see the strength of the Spirit reveal itself “~Rumi
PS: let’s conclude with a more or less controversial verse. For some of you must notice that they do not have the verse (Matthew 17,21) which is attributed to (Marc 9,29). Even when both of these verses are included some bible translations leave out the word fasting. Here is how it goes: “And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Jesus was talking about demons that His disciples were not able to rebuke. Going back to the first questions, I hope that this answered them.
Giovanni dell’Addolorata,
Written: Lent 2019,
Edited and posted: Lent 2021.
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