Organized fasting

[BillyB]

Does the Church ever, formally or informally, get groups of people together to fast? I know there are fast days but how about outside of those?

I ask because of the recent HHS decision about the requirement for basically all employers to offer insurance covering abortion and contraception. Bishop Olmsted here in Phoenix has asked us to fast and pray. I haven’t been able to find anything about an organized effort, though.

Looking at some of the other threads, it would seem that fasting is something one does without proclaiming it to the world. God willing, I’ll be in full communion with the Church this Easter. So, maybe this is something of a “newbie” question but I have to wonder about fasting as a group effort.

Your help is appreciated.

All my best,
Billy

 

[BluesPicker]

Does the Church ever, formally or informally, get groups of people together to fast? I know there are fast days but how about outside of those?

I ask because of the recent HHS decision about the requirement for basically all employers to offer insurance covering abortion and contraception. Bishop Olmsted here in Phoenix has asked us to fast and pray. I haven’t been able to find anything about an organized effort, though.

Looking at some of the other threads, it would seem that fasting is something one does without proclaiming it to the world. God willing, I’ll be in full communion with the Church this Easter. So, maybe this is something of a “newbie” question but I have to wonder about fasting as a group effort.

Your help is appreciated.

All my best,
Billy

Dear Billy,

   Those who hear of the Bishop's plea for the faithful to  fast will fast.  Fasting is a means to detach from the hunger of  unhealthy appetites and  a way to conform one's mind to the Will of God.   Too much fasting can harm you.  But fasting in moderation on a regular basis is good and healthy.  One can learn to overcome habits and disapline the mind to turn to God.  Then one can overcome bad habits, one by one, from the experience of learning to fast.  If one fasts too severly one can  fall into sin.  We have to maintain our body's health.  We need healthy bodies to work.  It is as simple as that.

    I  believe fasting and penaces are between one and God.

BP

 

[Splagchnizomai]

If your bishop asks you to pray and fast, he is asking the entire diocese (the whole group of Catholics in his “jurisdiction”) to do so. It is up to each Catholic to follow his pastoral guidance.

You don’t need to be Catholic to fast, and you don’t need any permission or organized effort to fast. Fasting is an ancient practice of the Church. If you’d like to read more about it, I highly recommend Msgr Murphy’s The Spirituality of Fasting.

You could also read Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini on Fast and Abstinence.
vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19660217_paenitemini_en.html