No need to throw out the chocolate,
booze, and carbs.
Pope Francis has a different idea for
fasting this year.
Christians around the world mark the beginning of Lent with the
celebration of Ash Wednesday. This ancient day and season has a surprising modern
appeal. Priests and pastors often tell you that outside of Christmas, more
people show up to church on Ash Wednesday than any other day of the
year—including Easter. But this mystique isn’t reserved for Christians alone.
The customs that surround the season have a quality to them that transcend
religion. Perhaps most notable is
the act of fasting. While Catholics fast on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays during
the Lenten season, many people—religious or not—take up this increasing popular disciple during the year.
But Pope Francis has asked us to reconsider the heart of this activity
this Lenten season. According to Francis, fasting must never become
superficial. He often quotes the early Christian mystic John Chrysostom who said:“No act
of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no
matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard
floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do
nothing great.” This isn’t to
downplay the role of sacrifice during the Lenten season. Lent is a good time
for penance and self-denial. But once again Pope Francis reminds us that these activities must truly enrich others: “I
distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.”
So, if we’re going to fast from anything this Lent, Francis suggests
that even more than candy or alcohol, we fast from indifference towards others.
In his annual Lenten message, the pope writes, “Indifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a
real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once
more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.”
Describing this phenomenon he calls the globalization of
indifference, Francis writes that “whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own
interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the
poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer
felt, and the desire to do good fades.” He continues that, “We end up being
incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other
people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone
else’s responsibility and not our own.”
But when we fast from this indifference, we can begin to feast on
love. In fact, Lent is the perfect time to learn how to love again. Jesus—the
great protagonist of this holy season—certainly showed us the way. In him, God
descends all the way down to bring everyone up. In his life and his ministry,
no one is excluded.
“What are you giving up for Lent?” It’s a question a lot of people
will get these next few days. If you want to change your body, perhaps alcohol
and candy is the way to go. But if you want to change your heart, a harder fast
is needed. This narrow road is gritty, but it isn’t sterile. It will make room
in ourselves to experience a love that can make us whole and set us free. Now that’s something worth fasting for.
What can we do to avoid being caught up in this
spiral of distress and powerlessness?
1. Pray. Let
us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer!
2. Acts of charity - reaching
out to both those near and far.
3. Respond to God’s call to conversion. If we humbly implore God’s grace and
accept our own limitations, we will trust in the infinite possibilities which
God’s love holds out to us. We will also be able to resist the temptation of thinking that by our own efforts we can save the world and
ourselves. Let us pray, “Lord,
make our hearts like yours.” Give
us hearts that are firm and merciful, attentive and generous, hearts that are
not closed or indifferent.
Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.
You are the potter, I am the clay,
Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.
Let us
pray that we may become islands of mercy
in the midst of the sea of
indifference!
Sources:
Christopher
Hale: Pope Francis’ Guide to Lent: What You Should Give Up This Year, Time.com
http://w2.vatican.va Message of Pope Frances for Lent 2015
Change My Heart, O God Words by Eddie Espinosa
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