We hear
Jesus tell us today that there is a time for fasting. We know
that fasting is one of our Lenten disciplines that the Church calls us to
do. By
fasting it is not just refraining from eating for a time, but it is also giving
up other things in our live as a sacrifice in order to grow in our faith. We are
to seek God in fasting, in making a sacrifice, in giving things up. That is what our Catholic faith calls us to
do. Giving
up things can be a sacrifice, but it can be freeing as well. When I
was a missionary in Ecuador for 3 years, we did not have a telephone or a
computer or a TV or any kind of technology like that. In fact,
the nuns I worked with asked the bishop if he could have computers for us to
use to send email or other kinds of communication when we came into town, which
was only maybe once a month, and he told us that was too extravagant for
missionaries. But it
made me appreciate what I have, to appreciate the technology that makes life so
easy for us, technology that we often take for granted. When I
went to Spain for the pilgrimage, I also left technology behind, and it was so
freeing for me. I think a
lot of the faithful might dismiss the thought of fasting as a practical Lenten
devotion, but may today’s Gospel help us think about how we can incorporate
fasting into our Lenten disciplines this year.
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