Friday after Ash
Wednesday
(Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 9:14-15)
Fasting – Isaiah in effect denies it in the first reading
today, and Jesus delays it in the gospel.
There is, therefore, cause to wonder about its worth.
Physicians often require patients to fast before
undertaking various kinds of medical procedures. Of course, people needing to lose weight
regularly fast for salutary reasons.
Religious traditions, despite the reservations of the readings today,
have long considered fasting a way to purification. Not only does it allow the body to purge
itself of contaminants, but it signals a victory over one’s desires.
Although the practice almost mocks the meaning of the
term, Catholics are bound to fast only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That is, on these two days we are not allowed
to eat between meals. But individual,
more strenuous fasting is encouraged.
Skipping a meal and even passing an entire day without eating can express
genuine love for the Lord. We must
remember, however, the fasting that pleases God most. As today’s reading from Isaiah proclaims, God
wants us to work so that all people may be free. That is, we are to free the poor from excessive
want so that their fasting may be a willful act of love and not an inescapable
necessity.
