Homily: March 4, 2022: Friday after Ash Wednesday

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“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much but your disciples do not fast?”

The disciples of John did not understand the real purpose of fasting. They were blindly following the law.

We also fast. Do we know why?

Fasting was practised even before Christianity. The Hindu and Buddhist teachers fasted. Not by law but for spiritual meditation. Depriving body cleared their mind and purified their spirit. They received enlightenment. They received wisdom.

Our daily living is cluttered with too much social noise, mental distractions, physical sensualities, and spiritual sin. We cannot see clearly the presence of Christ - the bridegroom.

When we fast, we deprive, we detach, we free ourselves. We become more aware of the real need within us. We become more conscious of the real needs around us. We see truth, we understand eternity, we encounter divinity. We become enlightened. We become peace.

My papa fasted regularly throughout his life. He was calm, compassionate and patient, even when in pain, difficulties, or sufferings. He was at peace even at his death.

God says, “this rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless”.

We fast so that we become less ourselves, more like God. We see what He sees, feel what He feels, do what He does. We become love.

Fr. Nivin Scaria


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