"After Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights,
was hungry" (Matt. 4:2)
Dear brothers and sisters!
the beginning of Lent, which is a journey of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy again three penitential practices that are very dear to biblical and Christian tradition - prayer, almsgiving, fasting - To prepare us to better celebrate the Passover and thus experience the power of God, as we shall hear the Easter Vigil, "dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy. Dispels hatred, crease the hardness of the powerful, promotes harmony and peace "(Easter Proclamation). In my usual Lenten Message, I would like this year to reflect in particular on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of fasting, the Lord has lived in the desert before beginning His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: "Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry "(Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses before receiving the Tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34.28) and Elijah before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19, 8), so Jesus prayer and fasting, prepared for his mission, at the start by a tough battle with the tempter.
We might wonder what value and meaning is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our sustenance. The Holy Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teaches that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and whatever leads to it. This is the history of salvation occasions that call for fasting. Already front pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to refrain from partaking of the forbidden fruit: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that thou eat of it you shall die "(Genesis 2:16-17). Commenting on the order of God, St. Basil says that "fasting is ordained in heaven," and "the first commandment in this regard was given to Adam." He thus concludes: "'You shall not eat', then, is the law of fasting and abstinence" (cf. Sermo de jejuni: PG 31, 163, 98). Since we are all burdened by sin and its consequences, fasting is offered as a means of restore friendship with the Lord. Ezra did so before the return journey from exile to the Promised Land, inviting the assembled people to fast "to humiliate us - he said - before our God" (8:21). The Almighty heard their prayer and assured them of his favor and protection. As did the inhabitants of Nineveh, responding to Jonah to repentance, as a testimony of their sincerity, a fast, saying: "Who knows, God does not repent and turn from his fierce anger, we do not have to perish! " (3.9). Even then God saw their works and spared them.
In the New Testament, Jesus brings to light the profound reason for fasting, stigmatizing the attitude of the Pharisees, who scrupulously observed the requirements imposed by law, but their hearts were far from God's true fast, the Divine Teacher repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of our heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will reward you "(Matt. 6:18). He himself set an example by responding to Satan at the end of 40 days spent in the desert, which "does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). True fasting is thus directed to eat "real food", which is doing the will of the Father (cf. Jn 4:34). Therefore, if Adam disobeyed the Lord's command "not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ", with fasting, the believer will submit humbly to God, trusting in His goodness and mercy.
The practice of fasting is very present in the first Christian community (cf. Acts 13:3; 14.22; 27.21, 2 Cor 6:5). Even the Church Fathers speak of the force of the fast, able to bridle sin, especially the lusts of the "old Adam" and open the road in the heart of the believer to God Moreover, fasting is a practice frequently and recommended by saints of every age. Crisologo St. Peter writes: "Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting, so those who pray, fast. Have mercy on those who fast. Who in asking wish to be heard, hear the petition of others. Who wants to be open toward the heart of God is not close to her who pleads with him "(Sermo 43: PL 52, 320. 332).
Today, the practice of fasting seems to have lost some 'of his spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the quest for material wealth, the value of a therapeutic care of your body. Fasting certainly physical, but for believers it is primarily a "therapy" for heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God Pænitemini In the Apostolic Constitution of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to place fasting in the context of the call of every Christian to "no longer live for themselves but for him who loves him and gave himself for him, and also ... to live for others" (cf. Chapter I). Lent might be a good opportunity to take over the provisions contained in the Apostolic Constitution, making the most authentic and lasting meaning of this ancient practice of penance, which can help us to mortify our egoism and open your heart to God and the next, the first and greatest commandment of the new law and overview of the whole Gospel (cf. Mt 22:34-40).
The faithful practice of fasting also helps to give unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. St. Augustine, who knew their negative impulses, called "twisted and tangled knot" (Confessions, II, 10.18), in his treatise The utility of fasting, he wrote: "I will certainly impose a punishment, but because He I Forgive, that I myself punishment because he helps me, to please his eyes, that I may enjoy its sweetness "(Sermo 400, 3, 3: PL 40, 708). Deprived of food material that nourishes the body, nurtures an inclination to listen to Christ and nourished by his word of salvation. Through fasting and prayer, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger in our hearts that we experience: hunger and thirst God
At the same time, fasting helps us to become aware of the situation in which so many of our brothers. In his First Letter, Saint John warns: "If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart, as he remains in the love of God?" (3:17). Voluntary fasting helps us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends down and goes to the rescue of ailing brother (cf. Encycl. Deus Caritas Est, 15). Freely choosing to deprive us of something to help others, we make the next in difficulty is not a stranger. Just to maintain this attitude of acceptance and attention to our brothers and sisters, I encourage parishes and other communities to step up the practice of fasting during Lent personal and community joined to the reading of the Word of God, prayer and almsgiving. This was from the beginning, the style of the Christian community, in which special collections were taken (cf. 2 Cor 8-9, Rom 15, 25-27), the faithful were encouraged to give to the poor as their fast had been set aside (see caption Rev., V, 20:18). This practice needs to be rediscovered and encouraged, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.
From what I have said it seems abundantly clear that fasting is an ascetic practice important spiritual weapon to fight against any any inordinate attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen the pleasure of food and other material goods, the disciple of Christ to help control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person. Appropriately calls an ancient liturgical hymn of Lent: "Utamur parcius ergo, / verbis, et Cibis potibus, / somni, et iocis arctius / perstemus in custody - we use more simple words, food, drink, sleep and play, the more we are vigilant attention. "
Dear brothers and sisters, fasting is good to see how the ultimate goal of helping each of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II, to make complete gift of self to God (cf. Enc. Veritatis Splendor, 21). Lent, therefore, in every family and every Christian community to cast aside all that distracts the mind and to enhance what feeds the soul, moving to the love of God and neighbor. I am thinking in particular to a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Mass every Sunday. With this interior disposition enter the penitential season of Lent. We accompany the Blessed Virgin Mary, Causa nostrae laetitiae, and sustain us in the effort to free our hearts from the bondage of sin to make it more "tabernacle living God. "With this hope, as I assure you of my prayers that every believer and every church community along a fruitful Lenten journey, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to all.
From the Vatican, December 11, 2008
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
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