So, what's the deal with fasting during Lent? Why do we need to do it?
Short answer: life transformation! Building up one's spiritual discipline is the name of the game here.
Fasting has been an ascetic discipline of the Church for centuries going back to the very first Apostles and their subsequent followers in the earliest Christian traditions. Perhaps the most clear-cut reason for Christians to fast is that Christ Himself taught it and expected it. In the Gospel of Saint Matthew (Matthew 6:16-18) Jesus says:
"Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
Notice here that He said "when you fast" and not "if you fast." Christians engaging in fasting is an apparent assumption here.
We fast to gain control of our passions, fight against our sins, and to do penance and take up our cross in our following of Christ.
What is fasting? What is abstinence?
In the Roman-rite of the Catholic Church, fasting refers to the reduction of food having one full meal and two smaller meals that do not equal one full meal. Abstinence refers to not eating meat. However, there are many other Catholics in the Eastern-rites, of which I am a member, that follow another way. Eastern Catholics have their own fasting rules and traditions depending on their rite, but most are relatively similar in that one fasts from meat, dairy, eggs, and on certain days, wine and oil are permitted.
Catholics in the Eastern rites typically will fast on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year to remember the betrayal of Christ on Wednesday and His Crucifixion on Friday. Moreover, the Didache, which is a document from the 1st century between 65AD-80AD and is sort of a short handbook of the teachings of the 12 Apostles details different times that one is to fast, such as during certain liturgical times of the year, on Wednesdays and Fridays and also before baptisms. Why didn't this handbook make it into the New Testament? That's another blog post that would require a lot more research, but one reason is that the Didache, being a handbook, was not a liturgical text being read in the churches at that time and so, therefore, didn't make it into the 27-book canon of the Bible. But, it is nonetheless useful in shedding light on the practices of the Early Church.
There are many other examples in both the Old and New Testaments of the practice of fasting. Certainly, fasting is needed in our modern world of conveniences and of eating whatever we want, whenever we want. Saying no to oneself is not easy in fasting and abstaining from food, but it has been practiced by Christians since the very beginning. Fasting is one of the best ways to practice self-discipline and conquer one's passions.
After all, food is one of our most primordial needs, and if we cannot control what we eat, how can we expect to control anything else?
Short answer: life transformation! Building up one's spiritual discipline is the name of the game here.
Fasting has been an ascetic discipline of the Church for centuries going back to the very first Apostles and their subsequent followers in the earliest Christian traditions. Perhaps the most clear-cut reason for Christians to fast is that Christ Himself taught it and expected it. In the Gospel of Saint Matthew (Matthew 6:16-18) Jesus says:
"Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
Notice here that He said "when you fast" and not "if you fast." Christians engaging in fasting is an apparent assumption here.
We fast to gain control of our passions, fight against our sins, and to do penance and take up our cross in our following of Christ.
What is fasting? What is abstinence?
In the Roman-rite of the Catholic Church, fasting refers to the reduction of food having one full meal and two smaller meals that do not equal one full meal. Abstinence refers to not eating meat. However, there are many other Catholics in the Eastern-rites, of which I am a member, that follow another way. Eastern Catholics have their own fasting rules and traditions depending on their rite, but most are relatively similar in that one fasts from meat, dairy, eggs, and on certain days, wine and oil are permitted.
Catholics in the Eastern rites typically will fast on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year to remember the betrayal of Christ on Wednesday and His Crucifixion on Friday. Moreover, the Didache, which is a document from the 1st century between 65AD-80AD and is sort of a short handbook of the teachings of the 12 Apostles details different times that one is to fast, such as during certain liturgical times of the year, on Wednesdays and Fridays and also before baptisms. Why didn't this handbook make it into the New Testament? That's another blog post that would require a lot more research, but one reason is that the Didache, being a handbook, was not a liturgical text being read in the churches at that time and so, therefore, didn't make it into the 27-book canon of the Bible. But, it is nonetheless useful in shedding light on the practices of the Early Church.
There are many other examples in both the Old and New Testaments of the practice of fasting. Certainly, fasting is needed in our modern world of conveniences and of eating whatever we want, whenever we want. Saying no to oneself is not easy in fasting and abstaining from food, but it has been practiced by Christians since the very beginning. Fasting is one of the best ways to practice self-discipline and conquer one's passions.
After all, food is one of our most primordial needs, and if we cannot control what we eat, how can we expect to control anything else?
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