“WARM WITH GOD’S LOVE”
Lenten Reflections
16thFebruary 2018.
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FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Reading 1: Is 58: 1-9 Isaiah sets forth guidelines for fasting. He tells us how not to fast and then gives the ideal attitude that will make fasting a blessed experience.
Res. Psalm: Ps 51: 3-6, 18-19 A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel: Mk 9: 14-15 Jesus compares his life with the apostles to a wedding celebration during which fasting would be inappropriate. When the bridegroom is taken away, then they can fast.
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“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.
Overwhelmed by the number of needy and suffering people, we are often tempted to turn away from our sisters and brothers in need. What can I do? How many people can I help? What is the use of lighting a single candle in such vast darkness? Jesus does not demand more than what is possible. We need to respond as lovingly and as appropriately as we can to the situation at hand .So let us inculcate at least 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, 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.
Lenten Act: When you meet someone in need this day, humble yourself, and share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless… into your house. (Is 58:5-7).