Fasting is an important spiritual discipline we practice during the season of Lent. Fasting is not a unique Christian Sadhana (practice). This is an integral part of the spiritual heritage of all religions. The vigorous fasting of Muslims during the month of Ramadan is famous. Followers of Hinduism observe fasting on the eve of the significant events of their lives. Fasting is one the three spiritual pillars of Judaism. The word fasting appears at least 92 times in the Bible. All the major Biblical figures such as Moses, Elijah, Esther, Nehemiah, David, Daniel, Paul and Jesus fasted at crucial points of their lives. They fasted for a variety of reasons. Some of them to show humility, others as a sign of repentance, still others to express their dependence on God and some others as part of grief and mourning.
The Mosaic Law established only one day of Fasting, the great day of Atonement (Lv 16: 29-34). After the Exile four special days of fasting were added ( Za 8:19). Jesus condemned the pharisaical aspects of fasting and restores the true meaning of fasting by his own fasting in the desert. The word fasting literally means to bow down one’s soul. The true meaning and purpose of fasting is evident from the response that Jesus gave to the disciples of John. John’s disciples approached Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”( Mt 9: 14-15).
Fasting is required when the bridegroom (Jesus/God) is taken away or separated from us. Hence, the purpose of Fasting is to bring back the bridegroom or to reunite with the bridegroom. This idea is clear if we look at the Indian word for fasting. The equivalent word for fasting in Sanskrit is UPAVAS. This is a combination of two words, namely, UPA and VAS. The word UPA means near and the word VAS means to stay. So UPAVAS means to stay near…Stay near God or stay with God. Ultimately the purpose of Fasting (upavas) is to stay with God. “Stay with us Lord”, this was the prayer of the disciples of Emmaus (Lk 24:28).
Four conditions to stay with God
1. Remove the obstacles that stand in between the bridegroom (God) and me. There are number of things that distract and deviates us from God. This varies from person to person. This can be a particular addiction or an attitude or a habit or some attractions or temperaments, and the list goes on indefinitely.
2. The path way to Jesus is through the street of the poor. As long as our brothers and sisters are deprived of the basic necessities of life such as bread, housing and clothing, the distance of the road to God remain longer and longer. The cry of the poor will distract God from hearing the voice of our prayer (The story of the Rich man and Lazarus). People may carefully distance themselves from responding to the needs of the helpless and less privileged. They may easily find reason to blame on them for their predicament. The question is not who is right or wrong but what I can do to change the situation. There are only few things of which I have no choices: to choose my parents and to choose my birth place. If they were born in a different situation their destiny could have been different. As Mother Theresa said, “Very often we take things for granted without knowing the ground reality”.
The poor is the sacrament of the rich. This is indisputably spelled out in the last judgment scene. Jesus said, for example, “ I was hungry and you gave me food, I was naked and you clothed me, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mat 25: 35-40). We see the same spirit in the book of Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord, see the fast that pleases me: Fast by sharing your bread with the hungry, bring to your house homeless, clothe the man you see naked” (Is 58: 7). Fasting is effective when we become ‘poor’ to make others rich (Lk 6: 20ff). Whatever we give up in charity become our capital in heaven.
3. Fasting to participate in the redemptive suffering of Jesus. A young lady after delivering her first child said, “Now I know the suffering and sacrifice my mother went through for me”. Only when we feel the pain of sacrifice do we appreciate the value of others sacrifice. Until then we take things for granted. Fasting necessarily brings inconveniences, discomforts and pain. This experience is our human way of appreciating the great love of Jesus towards us and responding to his invitation to take part in his suffering. Jesus said, for instance, “Can you drink the cup that I drink…” (Mk 10:38). “My soul is sorrowful even to death, remain here and keep watch….Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?” ( Mk 14: 34,37). Abstain from something valuable and feel the discomfort and offer them to God as a sign of your love.
4. Fasting to reassert the vanity of the worldly things. Days before his passing, Alexander the Great told his minister: “When you put my body in the Casket, keep both my arms open. Let the world know that their king is not carrying anything with him”. Detachment/ fasting from material things speak our belief in the transient nature of the material world and our trust in the permanency of God. Remember the great saying of Jesus: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal” (Mt: 6: 19-20).
Let the opportunity for fasting be a moment of grace and occasion to deepen our relationship with God. Like the disciples of Emmaus let us pray: “Stay with us Lord, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over” (Lk 24:28).
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