Fr. David's Lent Reflections

Day 38:

Here we come to the 38th day of our Lenten journey, God bless you as you travel the path to the Cross and to our Lord’s resurrection. Our reading from scripture is Isaiah 58:1-11

Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. 2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgment, and desire to draw nigh to God, 3 saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? why have we afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it?

Nay, in the days of your fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye wound. 4 If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as ye do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? 5 I have not chosen this fast, nor such a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast acceptable. 6 I have not chosen such a fast, saith the Lord; but do thou loose every burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account. 7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe him, and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed.

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall compass thee. 9 Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech; 10 and if thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as noon-day: 11 and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed.

It is a great temptation for us to fast during Lent only from food, if that. I say “if that” because I know people who give up other things than food for Lent, especially people who eat a vegan diet regularly anyway, so they give up (for instance) listening to music in the car, or looking at social media, or whatever.

This is fine. Doing anything to draw closer to God is a good thing, but that’s the point: it has to be in order to draw closer to God. Giving up something in and of itself does not commend us to God, in fact, St. Paul said that specifically in his first epistle to the Corinthians (8:8) - - “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.” You’re not holier because you ate meat in February but you didn’t in March. You’re holier because self-denial brings you to a better understanding of yourself, and opens a way for you to grow in your relationship with God.

Isaiah said: “If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with your fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as ye do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying?” If you spend your Lent swearing and fighting and wasting time doing worthless things, then you’re not fasting, even if you eat nothing at all. Isaiah has some suggestions for us: “Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe him, and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed” (the last part means that you should make peace with your family). But even those good works are nothing without faith, as he said: “and if thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as noon-day,” that is, good works must spring from the heart, from faith, and then they result in the enlightenment that we desire.

We’re coming closer to the end of Lent, brothers and sisters, and I pray that this has been a good period of spiritual growth for you. For the rest of this fast, and every moment of every fast, let us learn to fast with faith.