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March 12, 2022In the season of Lent, we turn to Prayer, Almsgiving and Fasting as the pillars of our Lenten spiritual exercises, which are meant not to place burdens on our day-to-day lives but rather call us into a deeper communion with Christ as we seek to align our lives of plenty with those who have insufficient food, shelter or any other daily necessity of life and Spirit.
This weekend, I would like to provide you with some wisdom that I picked up from Kelly Henderschdet, the director of the Archdiocesan Office of Formation (which oversees and accompanies parishes in their faith formation of parishioners), here she offers as a way to grow our understanding of connecting with others so as to connect with God…
During the season of Lent, as we practice fasting on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, including fasting from food or things we enjoy, let us think about other ways we can fast in this season:† Let us fast from negativity…and feast on positive thinking;
† Let us fast from gossiping…and feast on affirming one another;
† Let us fast from fear…and feast on trust;
† Let us fast from guilt…and feast of redemption;
†Let us fast from holding grudges…and feast on forgiveness;
† Let us fast from darkness…and feast on God’s light;
† Let us fast from giving up…and feast on dreaming big;
† Let us fast from self-centeredness…and feast on the needs of others;
† Let us fast from wasting time…and feast on seizing the day;
† Let us fast from frowning…and feast on laughter;
† Let us fast from always “doing” …and feast on really “being;”
† Let us fast from discouragement…and feast on hope;
† Let us fast from judgement…and feast on acceptance;
† Let us fast from a half-empty glass…and feast on gratitude;
† Let us fast from missing the big picture…and feast on present moment awareness;
† Let us fast from counting losses…and feast on abundance; and,
† Let us fast from simply “hearing” …and feast on really “listening.”
Let us pause for a moment of silent reflection as you ponder what the Holy Spirit is leading you to “fast from” towards “feasting on.”
This simply exercise helps us to see “fasting” anew and not so much as an exercise in giving up but rather one that has us “buy into” the positivity of our faith: Hope, Gratitude, Light and so much more.
