Friday after Ash Wednesday
On this first Friday in Lent, where do we find ourselves in our Lenten observances after only two days of practicing them? Maybe our resolve is firm; we have remained steadfast so far, or perhaps we have fallen a few times already. To add even more, it’s also a Friday in Lent, so it’s an even tougher sacrifice because we cannot eat meat today.
Whatever disposition our hearts may be in today, the first reading provides us with God’s perspective on fasting and the true attitude of the heart most pleasing to Him. The attitude of the Israelites is fundamentally disordered. They are prioritizing fasting as a means to “gain access to God” rather than fasting out of love and sorrow for sin. God explains the true nature of fasting to reorder the disordered. The primary reason for fasting is living the beatitudes and recognizing one’s sinfulness; only secondarily do we think of trying to have God hear our voices. What does this mean for us?
As we enter this season, let us not allow our deeds of fasting to devolve into means aimed at a self-interested goal of self-love or self-enrichment. Instead, fasting should rip our hearts open in love for God and others—also known as prayer and almsgiving—and sorrow for our sins. Fasting leads us outside ourselves both in seeking God’s mercy and in loving one’s neighbor before oneself. During Lent, the Church gives us fasting as the opportunity to dispossess and detach from the disordered loves of our hearts that hinder us from loving God and living the beatitudes. In this way, we will witness true repentance in our hearts and the healing power of God’s mercy poured upon each of us. May we pray that God purify our intentions for fasting so that we may encounter the love and mercy of our wonderful God!
Reflection by Nathaniel, seminarian
Posted in Articles for Lent, Lenten Resources