Proverbs, Chapter
14, Verse 26-27
26
The fear of the LORD is a strong
defense, a refuge even for one’s children. 27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of
life,
turning one from
the snares of death.
It has been
said the body is an excellent servant but a poor master. When we obey the
voice of our servant the body it ultimately leads to our destruction and eventually
we walk in darkness. Yet, when we trust in the Lord and master our bodies
from addiction and or lusts of the flesh we thrive. God’s ultimate wish
is for us to thrive. The Lord offers a choice to those who walk in
darkness: either trust in the true light, or walk in their false light and
suffer the consequences.
James
1:12-15 “Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I
am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any
man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it
is finished, bringeth forth death.”
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons
of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but
you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba,
Father!" (Rom. 8:14-15)
Fasting gives
birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise.
Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a
weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels
temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the
artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness.
– St. Basil the Great
Are you struggling with a sin?
I mean a sin that you just can’t seem to get rid of; a sin that is keeps you in
a constant state of guilt and despair. You’ve prayed, you’ve frequented the
sacraments, but you just can’t seem to break its hold. We’ve all been there at
one point or another, and such struggles are part and parcel of the spiritual
life. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today, I want to introduce you to a
very powerful, but much neglected weapon in the spiritual arsenal: Fasting. If
you want to put to energize your spiritual life, if you want to slay a sin
that has you in bondage, if you want to grow in union with God, take up the
holy weapon of fasting. For as Jesus said, there are some demons
that “cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” Let’s
examine this powerful weapon and its use in the spiritual life.
1. Start with the basics – The first step in fasting is obeying the law of the
Church—fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstaining from meat on
Fridays, and observing the Eucharistic fast (do not eat or drink one hour
before communion). Regarding
abstaining from meat on Friday, it’s true that it is technically is not
required in the U.S., but some sort of food-based penance or sacrifice
is still required. But instead of trying
to invent some new penance, why not just stick with what Catholics have always
done? Abstain from meat on Fridays. There’s a good reason for it. Men, fasting two days
a year and abstaining from meat on Fridays is incredibly easy. In the “old days”, fasting was required every weekday in
Lent. And there was once even a time when that fasting required abstinence from
all dairy products. There were a ton of other fasts and days of abstinence
throughout the liturgical year as well. I would say that we have it easier
than any other period in Catholic history. So let’s start with the basics
and obey the law of the Church without grumbling or complaining.
2. Add more –
As Catholic men, we should never be
satisfied with the bare minimum. We should seek to constantly pursue a deeper
conversion. St. Francis de Sales gives some good advice in this regard: If you
are able to fast, you will do well to observe some days beyond what are
ordered by the Church, for 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.
Accordingly,
once you’ve begun to follow the law of the Church, build on that
foundation to include fasting in other ways. Here are some ideas:
·
Skip one meal extra a week, like
breakfast or lunch. In addition to Fridays, Wednesdays are traditional days of
fasting, so that might be a good day to start with.
·
Deny yourself dessert on set days. Most
of us eat too much sugar anyway.
·
Skip salt on your food.
·
Fast from soda. It’s terrible for you!
·
Skip the beer or other alcoholic drinks
when going out to eat.
·
Don’t eat between meals. This sounds
easy, but try it. You’ll find it’s quite hard since most of us snack frequently
and don’t even realize it.
·
Include things besides food. For
example, fast from all technology one day a week.
·
Fast (one main meal with two small
snacks) one day a week.
·
Drink only water.
·
Now, you don’t have to fast from
all of these things all of the time. It is best to choose set days
for fasting, like the Wednesdays or Fridays mentioned above. Doing so helps
keep our fasting consistent.
3. Fast from sin
– Bodily fasting is meaningless
unless it is joined with a spiritual fast from sin. St. Basil gives the
following exhortation regarding fasting: Let us fast an acceptable and very
pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance
of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood
and perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.
4. Pray
– Fasting is not simply a matter of will power.
Grace is absolutely necessary. While fasting energies prayer, prayer energizes
fasting. Both are weak without the other.
As you fast to
conquer your passions, pray constantly for the grace of God to flood your soul,
beg for the virtues in which you need to mature, and ask for strength in the
spiritual warfare.
5. Beware of Pride
– With any kind of self-discipline,
penance, or fasting comes a temptation to pride. We face the danger of
believing that we are superior to others because we fast, or thinking that
fasting is an end in itself. But fasting itself is never the goal, nor does it
make us perfect or more spiritual than others. Rather, fasting is an aid, a
training tool in our ascent toward perfection, which is found in a pure,
self-giving love of God and neighbor. “Be on your guard when you begin to
mortify your body by abstinence and fasting,” says St. Jerome, “lest you
imagine yourself to be perfect and a saint; for perfection does not consist in
this virtue. It is only a help; a disposition; a means though a fitting one,
for the attainment of true perfection.”
Conclusion: If
we neglect fasting, our spiritual life will always be mediocre. We will be weak
in the combat against our passions, we will easily succumb to temptation, and
we will never truly overcome our inherent selfishness and self-indulgence.
As men, our desire should be to strengthen ourselves and be the best that we
can be. We should train ourselves to be strong in the spiritual warfare, so we
can resist the temptations of the evil one. There is no better way to begin
this spiritual training than through the practice of fasting.
Daily
Devotions
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