There are many complicated ways to answer this, but the simple answer is that we are not made for this world. Not to fast and mortify our senses at times is to lose sight of the fact that we are pilgrims on a journey to our eternal home.
I have just returned from a camping trip with my family, and I noticed that certain aspects of campers correspond to those of pilgrims. Campers and pilgrims alike make certain sacrifices of luxury. For campers, it is typically for fun - for vacation or just for the experience. Pilgrims make these sacrifices because they are traveling on a spiritually enriching journey. When on any kind of journey it is commonly understood that sacrifices must be made. We don't have our kitchens or our nice beds. We may not be able to eat as regularly or as nicely. There might be some dirt in our food. We may not be able to shower every day. We might be cold, or hot, or thirsty, or just tired and hungry. But we make these concessions easily, and often gladly! If we are able to make these sacrifices so easily for the sake of the experience - and in the name of recreation - can we, and should we, not make them for the sake of spiritual merit? By fasting we are able to pull ourselves away from material dependencies and focus on the eternal life we are called to. Our time on earth is temporary. Often this time has been referred to as a journey on which we are pilgrims. We are "just passing through". When compared to eternity, our time here is just a blink of an eye, dust thrown in the wind that quickly disappears. What we are made for is so much more!
God has given us bodies and material possessions, and so we are right to use them and treat them with respect. However we cannot lose sight of the fact that we cannot take any of it with us. Material things are "on loan", as it were. Seeing everything we have as being borrowed can help us with detachment. So, too, can fasting. When we deprive our senses of some kind of comfort through fasting and mortification, our minds and hearts are free to let go of transient allurements and focus on the eternal. Fasting allows us to remember that it is ultimately not material comfort that satisfies. Going a little hungry allows us to see and respond to a deeper hunger that is fed only by God. Rising early in order to begin the day with prayer allows us to see that we are not at rest until we rest in God. Spending time in Adoration allows us to see that what our hearts really desire is to possess God, whole and entire, within our very bodies; to be united with Him in endless bliss and ecstasy, never to experience pain or loss again.
Fasting opens the door for deeper prayer because we are more focused on the eternal - on the God we are praying to - and less focused on the desires of our body. In the Scriptures we see that fasting and prayer were used in times of great need, before undertaking a great task, and to forgive sins. By going before the king unsummoned, Queen Esther risked her life in order to petition the king and save her Jewish people. She preceded this great task by three days of prayer and fasting, humbling herself before God. Moses fasted for forty days before receiving the Ten Commandments. The Old Testament prophets like Nehemiah, Joel and Jeremiah, led public penitential celebrations in order to atone for the sins of God's people and pray for His mercy. It is not an exhibition of piety, for this would be the fasting of the Pharisees that Jesus condemned in Matthew 6:16. Instead, Jesus says, "When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:17-18). Jesus Himself went out into the desert to fast and pray for forty days before entering His public ministry. The Apostles prayed and fasted when choosing elders in the early Church.
We hear of some of the great saints - like Teresa of Avila or Catherine of Siena - who often went into ecstasy during prayer, losing all consciousness of their bodily senses. It is difficult to enter this deeply into prayer without some kind of bodily mortification or fasting. St. Catherine said, "Without mortifying the taste, it is impossible to preserve innocence, since it was by the indulgence of his appetite that Adam fell." These saints did not want to be distracted from their union with God by giving their bodies every possible comfort. They often brought their bodies into subjection by offering strict fasts, night vigils, and daily penances in order to free their senses to be open to God.
I am not saying that everyone is capable of such great fasting and mortification - nor that it is pratical to everyone's state in life to undertake these penances every day - but that fasting should become a regular part of our Christian life. When Jesus was asked why his disciples were not fasting, he responded that it was not appropriate for them to fast while the Bridegroom was with them, but that a time would come - when the Bridegroom was taken away - when they would be called upon to fast. The calendar of the Church is a great way to keep track of when we should be "feasting or fasting". Our Blessed Mother has asked that Wednesdays and Fridays be particular days of fasting. While today is Friday and it would normally be appropriate to offer a fast or some mortification, today is also the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, two of the greatest men in the history of our Church. It is a great celebration for the Catholic Church, and so we "feast" instead! "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
As we continue in this Fortnight for Freedom, I encourage you in your fasting and prayer for the cause of Religious Liberty. Following the example of those in the Scripture, we fast and pray in order to petition God for a matter of particular urgency and gravity for our Nation. If you have been fasting, I encourage you to continue - your sacrifice will not be unnoticed. If you haven't been fasting, or perhaps have never thought much about it, I encourage you to begin now and offer a sacrifice to God, greater or smaller according to your situation. God hears every prayer we offer Him. Fasting gives us the opportunity to show God how serious we are and how much we really care about the petition we place before Him. It also gives us the opportunity to be united with our brothers and sisters in Christ for a common cause. May God bless the remainder of this Fortnight, and may God bless our Nation!
Saint John Chrysostom: "Fasting is the support of our soul: it gives us wings to ascend on high, and to enjoy the highest contemplation!"
Saint Francis De Sales: "Besides the ordinary effect of fasting in raising the mind, subduing the flesh, confirming goodness, and obtaining a heavenly reward, it is also a great matter to be able to control greediness, and to keep the sensual appetites and the whole body subject to the law of the Spirit; and although we may be able to do but little, the enemy nevertheless stands more in awe of those whom he knows can fast."
Saint Peter Chrysologus: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”
Written by Catherine
