Educate me on fasting, please!

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strivingforsainthood

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I have been interested in taking part in fasting for awhile. I just wanted to be more educated on it.

Is there any words from Scripture, Church teachings or Church approved Apparitions that give us clarity on how often we should fast or the degree to which we should fast?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!
 
A few quick thoughts.

You should never fast in a way that endangers your health.

If you have a medical condition that has strict nutrional needs like diabetes you shouldn’t fast from food without guidance from your doctor, and regular fasting rules like during Lent may not apply to you.

The Church has guidelines on fasting during Lent.

You may want to speak to a priest or spiritual director about fasting plans. I say that because some people are too strict with themselves such that they put their health in danger.

You can fast from things besides food. Like TV.
 
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Follow the Church guidelines for the Catholic Church you are in.

If you have any conditions related to food, including diabetes, low blood sugar, fainting spells, eating disorder etc then talk with your doctor before beginning any fasting devotion.
 
As to the value of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, have a read of the Book of Tobit. It can be read in one sitting, and is my favorite Old Testament scripture. It has essentially every human experience condensed into 14 short chapters which seem to fly by.

The version in the Knox, Douay-Rheims or Catholic Living Bible are from slightly different (older) manuscripts and strike me as more warm and human.
 
Jesus spoke about it. He went as far as to say that God will reward you of you do it. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:16-18)

Notice, Jesus says when you fast-- not if you fast. He’s assuming that people will fast. He believed that His church would fast. In the book of Joel, God says to return to Him with fasting and weeping. This kind of fast was done as a way to mourn. If you are diabetic, I would recommend talking to a doctor before fasting (just to make sure that it is safe to fast).

For me personally, God has had me fast and pray for people. Fasting is a way to yearn for closeness to God. It’s devotion with a passion. Prayer and fasting go together like chocolate and peanut butter. When you are praying and fasting with such a passion that food and drink almost become an immorality, God becomes closer to you. It’s a way to seek closeness to God, so I would recommend fasting to anyone, except in the case of where someone has a health condition that prevents them.
 
The Christian life points us to love. If we are going to love God and others, we have to be filled with love. A soul that is full of gunk has no room in it.
I try to remember
You can’t give what you don’t have.

Fasting empties the soul of attachments and comforts that numb us and subvert our will to love. Fasting is not for it’s own sake or for the sake of building our own virtue, the whole discipline is oriented toward the current of God’s love.

Honestly, I am not good at disciplines and it is always work for me to love.
 
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