Comments welcome about fasting :)

[Melchior_1]

I trust I can get some good feedback on this issue around these parts.

A bit of background; my spirituality is HEAVILY influenced by the Franciscan Way. Although not yet an official member of the Secular Franciscans, I still live my life according to the Rules Francis set upon the Order. A part of this is I fast quite often. And by quite often I mean every day (a max of two meals a day, and most of my meals are bread and pasta with some milk). For awhile (such as currently) it was due to financial problems. But I find I get so much freedom through fasting and moderation that even when I make good money I continue to do it. For quite a few years this has been happening and after careful discernment it seems as if that I’ve been blessed with the spiritual gift of Voluntary Poverty.

The other day I went out to lunch with a buddy of mine and he asked me “do you ever offer up this fasting”? I looked at him funny and after a pause I said “no actually, I don’t. It’s so ingrained into my life that if I offered it for specific intentions it’d be like cheating, because there’s not much effort involved”. He said “you should think about offering it up for specific intentions, like your baby that’s on the way or finding a job”.

After leaving I gave it some thought, and he brought up a good point. Although I let my actions speak for themselves between myself and God, and God knows my heart and the intentions behind the fasting, I could still let specific intentions be known to the Lord. I’m still conflicted on it though. I can see how it would be a very powerful form of prayer, to continually offer up fasting every day for a different intention. Or perhaps the same intention for several days (almost like a novena through fasting!). Yet at the same time…it’s so ingrained in my spirituality it almost doesn’t seem fair. There’s no extra sacrifice involved because really, I’m already doing it non-stop. And I like the idea of simply just living my life, and living this way without much thought. God knows me, he knows my heart. I live simple, and I’m the freer for it.

What are y’alls thoughts on this?

 

[choy]

i guess its like asking skinny models to offer their “fasting”?

or perhaps if it was your intention to fast for the Lord, then its good. but if you fast because of health reasons, then there’s really nothing to offer. the question goes back to you and ask yourself what is the reason behind your fasting. then you will find there if you can offer it or not

 

[Melchior_1]

i guess its like asking skinny models to offer their “fasting”?

or perhaps if it was your intention to fast for the Lord, then its good. but if you fast because of health reasons, then there’s really nothing to offer. the question goes back to you and ask yourself what is the reason behind your fasting. then you will find there if you can offer it or not

I thought that the intention of fasting was clear; the fasting is always done for the Lord’s benefit. Although there are times that it does have a practical benefit, even when I have ample money I still fast. It’s become a way of living based upon Franciscan spirituality.

The fasting is always being offered as a way of living, dedicating my lifestyle to the Lord. My question is whether or not a consistent lifestyle of voluntary poverty can be offered for specific intentions or is better to continue just offering up the lifestyle as a form of prayer through action.

 

[choy]

I thought that the intention of fasting was clear; the fasting is always done for the Lord’s benefit. Although there are times that it does have a practical benefit, even when I have ample money I still fast. It’s become a way of living based upon Franciscan spirituality.

The fasting is always being offered as a way of living, dedicating my lifestyle to the Lord. My question is whether or not a consistent lifestyle of voluntary poverty can be offered for specific intentions or is better to continue just offering up the lifestyle as a form of prayer through action.

oh, okay. sometimes i read too fast for my own good

then your heart and mind is in the right place for what you do. what difference does it have with a priest or religious with a vow of poverty? do they have to break the poverty and live like Donald Trump once in a while just to make the poverty more meaningful? of course not. that fact that you can sustain this lifestyle even when its so easy to break it is a testament to your commitment to the Lord

 

[Biedrik]

oh, okay. sometimes i read too fast for my own good

then your heart and mind is in the right place for what you do. what difference does it have with a priest or religious with a vow of poverty? do they have to break the poverty and live like Donald Trump once in a while just to make the poverty more meaningful? of course not. that fact that you can sustain this lifestyle even when its so easy to break it is a testament to your commitment to the Lord

I think I mostly agree with this. As long as you do this fasting as a part of your faith, and not for some other reason, then I think you could be able to offer it up to God. And as choy said, the fact that you can sustain this lifestyle, when most would fail by now simply more out of laziness than hunger, is a testament to your devotion.

 

[Advocatus_Fidei]

My understanding is that you only offer one of special actions for special intentions. As fasting is just part of your normal life it wouldn’t really work, presumably you are already doing it for a general intention which is what inspired you do embrace this way of life in the first place.

 

[Lamafacaja]

Regardless of whether it’s part of your normal life or not, it’s a cross, offer it up. Don’t waste it. :byzsoc:

 

[Layman]

Offer. If the sacrifice is accepted, then good. If not, try something else.

 

[mick321]

I trust I can get some good feedback on this issue around these parts.

A bit of background; my spirituality is HEAVILY influenced by the Franciscan Way. Although not yet an official member of the Secular Franciscans, I still live my life according to the Rules Francis set upon the Order. A part of this is I fast quite often. And by quite often I mean every day (a max of two meals a day, and most of my meals are bread and pasta with some milk). For awhile (such as currently) it was due to financial problems. But I find I get so much freedom through fasting and moderation that even when I make good money I continue to do it. For quite a few years this has been happening and after careful discernment it seems as if that I’ve been blessed with the spiritual gift of Voluntary Poverty.

The other day I went out to lunch with a buddy of mine and he asked me “do you ever offer up this fasting”? I looked at him funny and after a pause I said "no actually, I don’t. It’s so ingrained into my life that if I offered it for specific intentions it’d be like cheating, because there’s not much effort involved". He said “you should think about offering it up for specific intentions, like your baby that’s on the way or finding a job”.

After leaving I gave it some thought, and he brought up a good point. Although I let my actions speak for themselves between myself and God, and God knows my heart and the intentions behind the fasting, I could still let specific intentions be known to the Lord. I’m still conflicted on it though. I can see how it would be a very powerful form of prayer, to continually offer up fasting every day for a different intention. Or perhaps the same intention for several days (almost like a novena through fasting!). Yet at the same time…it’s so ingrained in my spirituality it almost doesn’t seem fair. There’s no extra sacrifice involved because really, I’m already doing it non-stop. And I like the idea of simply just living my life, and living this way without much thought. God knows me, he knows my heart. I live simple, and I’m the freer for it.

What are y’alls thoughts on this?

If I understand correctly, over time, you have conditioned your body to operate on a reduced caloric intake. That’s commendable. Your statement that “…there’s not much effort involved…”, reveals that you and I have a different understanding of fasting.

I was taught that when done properly, fasting, like genuine physical conditioning, will produce discomfort. Indeed, the “burn” is what makes true fasting an effective tool for conditioning the spirit. It is exactly this “disciplining of the flesh” which strengthens us against the temptations of Satan & the World. Through hunger, we learn to master our unruly carnal appetites that separate us from God.

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the topic in his 2009 Message for Lent.
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20081211_lent-2009_en.html

·

 

[choy]

If I understand correctly, over time, you have conditioned your body to operate on a reduced caloric intake. That’s commendable. Your statement that “…there’s not much effort involved…”, reveals that you and I have a different understanding of fasting.

I was taught that when done properly, fasting, like genuine physical conditioning, will produce discomfort. Indeed, the “burn” is what makes true fasting an effective tool for conditioning the spirit. It is exactly this “disciplining of the flesh” which strengthens us against the temptations of Satan & the World. Through hunger, we learn to master our unruly carnal appetites that separate us from God.

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the topic in his 2009 Message for Lent.
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20081211_lent-2009_en.html

·

while there’s not much effort to the fasting now, i think its still pretty good that he maintains it despite the ease of breaking that habit.

 

[mick321]

while there’s not much effort to the fasting now, i think its still pretty good that he maintains it despite the ease of breaking that habit.

Yes.

But a fast?

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the topic in his 2009 Message for Lent.
vatican.va/holy_father/be…t-2009_en.html

 

[IntegraCatholic]

Fasting has a particular definition. Traditionally, this means taking one full meal after noon with some little food permitted in the evening (not to exceed 8 ounces or 10 ounces in cold countries). Fasting prohibits the use of meat.

According to a more modern definition, fasting is taking one full meal with two possible collations not to consist in a full meal.

Whether or not someone fasts everyday has no bearing on whether he is actually fasting.

All that being said, my recommendation is to make the offering of yourself to our Lady through the method of St. Louis de Montfort. She will dispose of the merits of all your good works better than you can yourself. Of course, if you choose not to do this, you still can have a virtual intention for which you offer all your sacrifices, including those integrated into your daily life.

I commend you for making this effort on a daily basis.

 

[mick321]

Yes.

But a fast?

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the topic in his 2009 Message for Lent.
vatican.va/holy_father/be…t-2009_en.html

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2009

“He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry” (Mt 4,1-2)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium). For this year’s Lenten Message, I wish to focus my reflections especially on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord’s fasting in the desert, which He undertook before entering into His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” (Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34,28) and Elijah’s fast before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19,8), Jesus, too, through prayer and fasting, prepared Himself for the mission that lay before Him, marked at the start by a serious battle with the tempter.

We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting. In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2, 16-17). Commenting on the divine injunction, Saint Basil observes that “fasting was ordained in Paradise,” and “the first commandment in this sense was delivered to Adam.” He thus concludes: “ ‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence” (cf. Sermo de jejunio: PG 31, 163, 98). Since all of us are weighed down by sin and its consequences, fasting is proposed to us as an instrument to restore friendship with God. Such was the case with Ezra, who, in preparation for the journey from exile back to the Promised Land, calls upon the assembled people to fast so that “we might humble ourselves before our God” (8,21). The Almighty heard their prayer and assured them of His favor and protection. In the same way, the people of Nineveh, responding to Jonah’s call to repentance, proclaimed a fast, as a sign of their sincerity, saying: “Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?” (3,9). In this instance, too, God saw their works and spared them.

In the New Testament, Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting, condemning the attitude of the Pharisees, who scrupulously observed the prescriptions of the law, but whose hearts were far from God. True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). He Himself sets the example, answering Satan, at the end of the forty days spent in the desert that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4,4). The true fast is thus directed to eating the “true food,” which is to do the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4,34). If, therefore, Adam disobeyed the Lord’s command “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” the believer, through fasting, intends to submit himself humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy.

The practice of fasting is very present in the first Christian community (cf. Acts 13,3; 14,22; 27,21; 2 Cor 6,5). The Church Fathers, too, speak of the force of fasting to bridle sin, especially the lusts of the “old Adam,” and open in the heart of the believer a path to God. Moreover, fasting is a practice that is encountered frequently and recommended by the saints of every age. Saint Peter Chrysologus writes: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself” (Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 322).

[continued]

 

[mick321]

[continued]

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2009

In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one’s body. Fasting certainly bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a “therapy” to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God. In the Apostolic Constitution Pænitemini of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to present fasting within the call of every Christian to “no longer live for himself, but for Him who loves him and gave himself for him … he will also have to live for his brethren“ (cf. Ch. I). Lent could be a propitious time to present again the norms contained in the Apostolic Constitution, so that the authentic and perennial significance of this long held practice may be rediscovered, and thus assist us to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).

The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Saint Augustine, who knew all too well his own negative impulses, defining them as “twisted and tangled knottiness” (Confessions, II, 10.18), writes: “I will certainly impose privation, but it is so that he will forgive me, to be pleasing in his eyes, that I may enjoy his delightfulness” (Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live. In his First Letter, Saint John admonishes: “If anyone has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet shuts up his bowels of compassion from him – how does the love of God abide in him?” (3,17). Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, 15). By freely embracing an act of self-denial for the sake of another, we make a statement that our brother or sister in need is not a stranger. It is precisely to keep alive this welcoming and attentive attitude towards our brothers and sisters that I encourage the parishes and every other community to intensify in Lent the custom of private and communal fasts, joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. From the beginning, this has been the hallmark of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken up (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27), the faithful being invited to give to the poor what had been set aside from their fast (Didascalia Ap., V, 20,18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged again in our day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.

From what I have said thus far, it seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person. Quite opportunely, an ancient hymn of the Lenten liturgy exhorts: “Utamur ergo parcius, / verbis cibis et potibus, / somno, iocis et arctius / perstemus in custodia – Let us use sparingly words, food and drink, sleep and amusements. May we be more alert in the custody of our senses.”

Dear brothers and sisters, it is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God (cf. Encyclical Veritatis splendor, 21). May every family and Christian community use well this time of Lent, therefore, in order to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor. I am thinking especially of a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. With this interior disposition, let us enter the penitential spirit of Lent. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Causa nostrae laetitiae, accompany and support us in the effort to free our heart from slavery to sin, making it evermore a “living tabernacle of God.” With these wishes, while assuring every believer and ecclesial community of my prayer for a fruitful Lenten journey, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 11 December 2008.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

 

[Melchior_1]

I was taught that when done properly, fasting, like genuine physical conditioning, will produce discomfort. Indeed, the “burn” is what makes true fasting an effective tool for conditioning the spirit. It is exactly this “disciplining of the flesh” which strengthens us against the temptations of Satan & the World. Through hunger, we learn to master our unruly carnal appetites that separate us from God.

Mick, I assure you that “burn” and “discomfort” is still there from not eating, as there are often times that I go “woah, I’m hungry”. And I have a fast metabolism, so I should be eating regularly and consume a fair amount of calories (right now for example, my stomach is telling me to eat). I suppose the “not much effort” is more related to me comparing myself to other people. During Lent others talk about fasting and what they give up…for me the fasting is “not much effort” because I effectively live a Lenten lifestyle everyday (I celebrate Feast Days and Solemnities by still fasting but eating meat with the meal), so for Lent I need to go an extra mile. To me there are times that the fasting seems like no big deal, but every so often I get reminded that “this is something that’s hard to do”. The fact it’s likely a spiritual gift (voluntary poverty) plays into things as well.

Thanks for posting the letter from BXVI though. The specific mention of lectio divina is nice, as I’ve been thinking of doing more of that recently.

Laymen, that’s not a bad suggestion. There’s no harm in simply trying (and if that doesn’t work, try something else).

And that’s a solid idea Integra. Enlisting the help of our Mother is something that makes perfect sense (and is something I should have thought of doing in the first place).

 

[beloved1]

Hi,
It is understood that this is an unusaul way of looking at things but if “fasting” is so easy for you why not try eating and offer that up as a sacrifice instead. Just saying you know.

 

[mick321]

How about this?

• Determine how much food is required to fuel your metabolism.
• Reduce the food intake by 50% for a period of time.
• With the money that is saved, make an anonymous donation to a worthy cause.

The one who performs the fast will gain the benefits that flow from denying the flesh to strengthen the spirit. The “sacrifice” produces something tangible to “offer up”. Giving alms will benefit those in need. If we have been honest with ourselves throughout the process, Christ, who sees all, will be pleased. Faith + Works = the sound of rubber hitting the road.

Thoughts?