Lent: Why We Fast
We have now begun the season of Lent. This is a 40-day, penitential journey which is intended to help us prepare our hearts to more meaningfully enter into the joys of the resurrection at Easter. During this season we imitate our Lord who spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in order to prepare himself to be tempted by the devil and to be able to complete his ministry on earth.
The New Testament often uses athletic imagery to describe our journey of discipleship. St. Paul, for example in 1 Corinthians 9, likens himself to a runner and a boxer, physically training his body so that he might be efficient and focused on the path that our Lord called him to. This is the first sense in which we fast: to keep at bay those things which are vying for our hearts, so as to train ourselves for faithfulness in this life. There are many things that encroach upon us, trying to occupy that central place in our hearts. We need to remain vigilant so that our hearts do not fall away from the true and ultimate love, which is God. It’s important to note that many of these things are good things. During Lent, we do not give up things that are bad, we give up things that are good. If you are currently engaged in something that is not good, something sinful, then the only appropriate fast in that case is not a Lenten fast but a permanent fast! We learn to say “no” to good things now so that we can, in a more healthy way, say “yes” to them in the future - to make sure that these good things aren’t taking us away from the ultimate good.
Ok so from what then should you fast? I’d encourage you to think about fasting as a way of keeping your coping mechanisms in check. Ask yourself: What is encroaching upon me? What am I beginning to develop an unhealthy relationship with? What do I do to sedate myself (that is, to numb or distract myself from the present issues in my heart)? Some common things here include: alcohol, food, technology, and social media. Consider giving up these things and choose instead to sit with yourself in that pain, anxiety, loneliness, whatever it is that you are running away from. Don’t be afraid to go into that space, and invite God to be present there with you. This is the ultimate end of fasting: that we might increase our prayer and communion with God.
There is also another sense in which we fast, that is less spoken of, but nonetheless significant. To put it simply: we fast in mourning. We 1) mourn the loss of our Lord and 2) recognize the ways in which we are complicit in his death. It was our sins that sent him to that dreadful tree. Pastorally, we must be sensitive here because the intention is not to weigh ourselves down with a paralyzing burden of guilt, but rather to simply recognize the truth. To, in an appropriate way, face the reality of what we have done and own up to that. This is what the Ash Wednesday Collect, prayed every day in Lent, continually calls us to during this season - to “worthily lament our sins.”
So with these two senses of fasting in mind, I pray that God would give us grace to keep a Holy Lent this year. And don’t worry about failing at your Lenten disciplines, you most definitely will. Simply get back up, learn from it, and keep moving forward. The point is not to get a perfect score, the point is to slow down, to reorient ourselves around the values of the kingdom of God, and to experience greater communion with our Lord.