Friday, February 16, 2018
1st Reading: Is 58:1–9a
Gospel: Mt 9:14–15
The disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?” Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The abstinence and fasting we did last Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) were truly beneficial to the soul.
One may argue that abstention from meat could no longer benefit the soul as an appropriate form of self-deprivation because of shifts in diet patterns. Health-conscious people nowadays prefer fish and abstinence from meat is no longer a sacrifice to them. The argument is valid. But until Canon Law is revised, we continue to observe this law on abstinence from meat. This way we unite ourselves with the whole of Christendom in our annual Lenten observance. Unity in sacrifice makes a pleasing worship to the united Triune God.
To be truly beneficial to the soul, however, these practices must move away from the realm of rituals. To take these practices away from rituals the prophet Hosea proposes that we back them up with a personal exercise of mercy. From Scriptures we read: “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Mercy perfects sacrifice, especially when it involves one’s whole being. By this total self-giving, a person distinguishes himself from other merciful people. He is no longer contented with giving what he has. He goes to the extent of giving what he is. This is charity at its best – one capable of giving one’s life for others. No greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).
When fasting and abstinence take one to this level of mercy he soars higher from the level of mechanical fasting and abstaining from meat. When asked why his disciples didn’t fast, Jesus said: “How can wedding guests fast for as long as the groom is with them?” (Mark 2:19). For Jesus, fasting is not an end in itself but a means to get to the presence of God. Once in his presence, there is no more use for fasting.
Our practice of reducing food intake to one full meal on Ash Wednesdays and Good Fridays should make us feel for the poor who are forced by circumstances to fast throughout the year. Similarly, abstaining from meat should lead to gratitude for the luxuries God has allowed us to enjoy and so become more mindful of others. Only then will our Lenten practices take us to the presence of God. Anything less is sheer love for asceticism. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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