A HUNGER FOR GOD! ~ CookingFood.Org

“GENEROUS LENT 2017”

Lenten Reflections

Friday, 3^rdMarch 2017,

Week of Ash Wednesday

Is 58: 1-9;

Ps 51: 3-6, 18-19;

Mk 9: 14-15.

A HUNGER FOR GOD!

“Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast” (Mt 9:15). We are all called today to hunger for God and His kingdom. Fasting helps us in this regard. Jesus compares the coming of God’s kingdom, which he announces and begins, to a Jewish wedding feast. To fast during the time of joy would be insane. There will be a period of fasting after Jesus goes and leaves to his disciples the work of bringing God’s kingdom to fulfillment. We are now in that period. Just as Jesus went into the desert and fasted and prayed as he began the work of announcing and inaugurating God’s kingdom, so we need to solicit God’s special grace by fasting and praying as we carry out the work of bringing God’s kingdom to fulfillment.

Isaiah speaks on the essentials of Fasting. Fasting has both a vertical and horizontal dimension. Firstly, it is a personal activity, for the love of God. We do sacrifice, not because of shortage of food, rather we do sacrifice things we love, for gaining to grow in love towards God. Secondly, no fasting is fruitful if it does not concern with one’s neighbor. If we do not relieve the suffering of the sick, the hungry, the exploited; when we do not become the voice of the widow, the orphan and voiceless, our fasts will have no voice before God. So let us inculcate atleast one specific work of mercy, by sharing all we sacrificed with the needy. Fridays in Lent are also days in which the Church asks us to do some form of penance. The most important thing to understand about Fridays in Lent is that they should be a day of sacrifice.

Prayer: Lord, I choose, this day, to become one with You in Your suffering and death. May the small sacrifices and acts of self-denial I offer You become a source of my deeper union with You. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.

Holy Habit for Lent: FASTING – Lord help me to learn the habit of FASTING. May I share what I have with those who are lacking. Amen.