E
EphelDuath
Guest
Why is a man more pious because he only eats one meal a day for God?
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Y
YADA
Guest
Someone quoted Pope Leo the Great in one of the threads on whether to recieve on the tongue or hand …
I went to read the work from which is came … it is a homily on the fast of the seventh month …
I found it a good reflection for the Lenten season here is a link:
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.ii.v.xlvii.html
it might help you understand the purpose of fasting, almsgiving and prayer …
I read some of his other homilies too … it seems Pope Leo was big on fasting and prayer …
I went to read the work from which is came … it is a homily on the fast of the seventh month …
I found it a good reflection for the Lenten season here is a link:
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.ii.v.xlvii.html
it might help you understand the purpose of fasting, almsgiving and prayer …
I read some of his other homilies too … it seems Pope Leo was big on fasting and prayer …
L
LilyM
Guest
a) Christ did it himself - 40 days in the wilderness
b) He commanded us to do likewise (‘WHEN you fast …’ not if).
These alone should be enough. A kid who eats vegetables just because Mom said is just as healthy as a kid who gets the 10-minute lecture on WHY it’s good to eat vegetables, no? But since ‘just because’ usually isn’t enough …
c) To put it roughly, it teaches us to say ‘no’ to ourselves and attain a modicum of self-discipline. If I can say ‘no’ to having dinner, which is relatively easy, then it’s that much easier to say ‘no’ to bigger things like excessive alcohol, cheating on my tax return, adultery etc …
J
Joe_Kelley
Guest
It teaches the body to submit its appetites to the will of ones spirit.
R
robert_ambrose
Guest
learning self disipline, but that’s only part of the answer, praying constantly, and giving alms is linked to your question.
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Lief_Erikson
Guest
As people above mentioned, self-discipline can certainly be part of it.
For me, I fast for a few reasons. One is to come closer to God. I’m putting my body second and God first, and he respects that and often responds to my prayers more swiftly and dramatically during that period. I might fast as a form of praying. I might do it for increased intimacy with God or in order to have some prayer answered. It again puts my body second and my God first, which he respects and which can increase the potency of prayer.
My Lent fast is a gift to God, a way in which I can show him how I love him. I put him before my body, which shows him that I care. It is a gift of love. It also, to me, symbolically represents putting God before the world in my life.
For me, I fast for a few reasons. One is to come closer to God. I’m putting my body second and God first, and he respects that and often responds to my prayers more swiftly and dramatically during that period. I might fast as a form of praying. I might do it for increased intimacy with God or in order to have some prayer answered. It again puts my body second and my God first, which he respects and which can increase the potency of prayer.
My Lent fast is a gift to God, a way in which I can show him how I love him. I put him before my body, which shows him that I care. It is a gift of love. It also, to me, symbolically represents putting God before the world in my life.
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