Yesterday, Wednesday, Pope Benedict stepped on the Lent pedal, giving an advance of his annual Lenten Message to the Church. He offers a practical reflection in the message bout the value of fasting. Remember those days of Lenten fasts?I am putting this topic before you today because in just 20 days most Catholics will be in their churches ... packing the houses of God to be "ashed" at the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday will initiate a hiatus in Ordinary Time that does not end until Pentecost Sunday some 90 days later! (40 day of Lent and 50 days of the Easter Season). Gone are the days when fasting was a general adult obligation. Now by and large fasting is gone from the Catholic Church community. Few are the noble souls who care to make that sacrifice.
Pope Benedict places the practice of fasting before us, even three weeks early, because it is "a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it." We fast as a way to "submit ourselves humbly to God, trusting in his goodness and mercy." It is a practice used and recommended by many saints. If anyone feels separated from God, fasting is a "therapy for healing."
Fasting "nurtures and interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by his saving word." Because of the sacrifice in fasting, Jesus will satisfy our deepest hunger ... the hunger and thirst for God in one's life. Also fasting "enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan. Ultimately fasting is to help each of us make the complete gift of self to God.
Just a few timely thoughts to help us prepare our hearts and souls to gain as much as we can from a good Lenten season. The Holy Father's full text of the Lenten message can be read on the Vatican Web Site
