by Kenny Soosai
Readings: Deut 8:11-18, 1 Cor 1:17-31, Mark 2:18-22
Gospel: The disciples of John and
of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to him and objected,
"Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but
your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding
guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the
bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one
sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness
pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one
pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into
fresh wineskins."
Reflection: Fasting for the wrong reasons… In the Gospel, we read that
the Pharisees criticise Jesus’ disciples for not observing the fast. For a devout
Pharisee, fasting is observed twice a week ((Lk 18:9-14) but the Pharisees in
this context fasted more for show than really for the sake of drawing near to
God or for the good of their community.
In the Old Testament, fasting is believed to have the power to avert
God’s wrath and atone for sins. When a person or community repents, they
demonstrate their remorse by fasting and wearing sack cloth. So the purpose of
fasting was really to establish a communion with God or to atone for sins. It
was not meant to be imposed on another as the Pharisees in the Gospels were on
Jesus’ and His disciples.
The Pharisees saw outwardly that Jesus had done things that were
‘unworthy’ of a Rabbi (teacher). Jesus’ by His own authority had chosen to forgive
the sins of the paralysed man and took a tax collector, Levi, to be a disciple.
Even worse, Jesus ate in the house of Levi, something no respectable Rabbi of
that time will ever imagine doing.
In the end, Jesus was seeking out the sick and the ones who really
thirsts for God’s love. The healer was reaching out for the sick. Jesus saw the
hearts of the people while the Pharisees only saw the rules that were broken.
Many years ago, as a born again Christian, I was very meticulous to
observe all the Christian commands. I read my Bible daily, fasted appropriately
during Lent, making sure not to eat any meat during the week but to be careful
not to fast on Sundays as it wasn’t appropriate, made my confession monthly and
to say all 4 mysteries of the Rosary before the week was over. I thought that
anyone who was not fulfilling these ‘basic’ practices was not really fulfilling
his/her Catholic duty. I was being legalistic and judgemental.
Now, anyone who can fulfil these practices should be applauded but only
if they are doing this out of love for God.
The real question here is whose love do we crave for more? The love of
men or the love of God? Whose heart do we have? The heart of Jesus or the heart
of the Pharisee?
A Step to Consider:
Ask yourself what is the reason for fasting? Are we fasting because we
are afraid that we will break the ‘rules’ or are we fasting because we want to
discipline our carnal desires? Do we see a need in the community where we know
we need God’s intervention?
Our fast can be more fulfilling and bring about great change if our
hearts are properly aligned with Jesus
I would encourage you to find a good reason to fast, not just to obey
the rules. Rules can govern your actions for a while. Rules will never govern
your heart, only love can do that. Love also opens our eyes to see the needs of
the people around us.
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