Lent Begins Wed. Feb. 25th

Lent begins Wed. Feb. 25th
www.blogspotcinopsbegone.com – Sunday, February 15, 2009

Fasting is as important as ever and it is a “therapy” to heal obstacles to conforming to God’s will, says Pope Benedict XVI. This is a message for Lent, dated Dec. 11th and released today at the Vatican City, Feb. 3, 2009 (Zenith.org).

The liturgy proposes 3 specific practices during Lent: prayer, almsgiving and fasting. This year the Pope will focus on the history and importance of fasting.

Fasting was prominent in both the Old and the New Testaments: “Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law and Elijah’s fast meeting the Lord on Mount Hored, 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.”

The Pope acknowledges that the meaning of fasting – “depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance” --- might not be immediately clear. But he explained that, “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…. “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.

“True fasting … is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who ‘sees in secret, and will reward you,” the papal message notes. “{Christ} himself set the example, answering Satan, at the end of the 40 days spent in the desert that ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ The true fast is thus directed to eating the ‘true food,’ which is to do the Father’s will….

“Moreover,” the Pope said, “fasting is a practice that is encountered frequently and recommended by the saints of every age.”

Finally, in addition to the personal benefits of fasting, the Holy Father said, the penance also helps to foster solidarity.

“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,” he said. 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.”

The Bishop of Rome affirmed, “It seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves.”
George H. Kubeck