“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (Mark 2:18b)
Fasting is something that is practiced in every religion known to humankind. Catholic and Protestant Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, and Buddhists all fast at some time or another. However, there are other kinds of fasting that are part of our lives as well. For instance, we fast before surgical procedures, we fast to lose weight, and we fast to cleanse our bodies of various toxins.
So the question that is posed to Jesus in today’s Gospel begs us to consider why we fast. Jesus’ answer to the question may help us to understand the place of fasting in our religious lives.
“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.’” (Mark 2:19-20)
It is interesting to note that there are actually days on which various religions forbid fasting. Jesus seems to indicate that it would be inappropriate for his disciples to fast while he is among them. He also states that fasting will be appropriate when he is no longer with them.
For Roman Catholics in the United States, there are only two obligatory fast days. This is a far cry from the pre-Vatican II Church which imposed fasting on all members over the age of fourteen for all of Lent and on several other occasions throughout the year. Once every season of the year, the Church observed Ember Days on which we were directed to fast. On the vigils of major feasts such as Christmas, we were obliged to fast. These obligations seem to indicate that the Church regarded fasting as a way to prepare for the major Feasts and Solemnities of the liturgical year.
Roman Catholics are also required to fast for at least an hour before receiving the Eucharist. This too is a far cry from a former practice that required that we fast from midnight on days when we expected to receive communion. Again, this regulation seems to indicate that fasting was a way to prepare.
Fasting is also regarded as a penitential practice. The great penitential season of Lent begins with a Gospel passage that urges the faithful to fast, and Ash Wednesday is one of the two obligatory fast days. In addition we fast from meat (which we call abstinence) on the Fridays of Lent. In the Anglican communion, ministers fast on both Wednesday and Friday in remembrance of the betrayal of Jesus and his crucifixion.
All of this seems to suggest that fasting is a practice that reminds the person that this life, our life in this world, is not complete, that there is something beyond this mortal existence. By denying ourselves we remind ourselves that there is more to our lives than comfort. Fasting is also appropriate for things other than food. We can fast from any of a variety of practices with which we seek to comfort ourselves.
Blessed Paul VI wrote in his encyclical letter about fasting that it was his hope that Christians would voluntarily fast rather than simply when they were required to do so. This is why he so greatly reduced the number of days when we are obliged to fast. Perhaps his hope has slipped our minds, and we may have lost the sense of fasting in our lives of faith. The Gospel for this Monday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time reminds us that there is a place for fasting in our lives.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator