They worship me every day, claiming that they are eager to know my ways and obey my laws. – Isaiah 58:2

I have always been underweight. As far as I can remember, I’ve tried all sorts of vitamins and minerals, even Chinese medicine. I even had to incorporate chocolates in my diet. How? When I was a teenager, I had to eat chocolates after every meal. The doctor said that I could eat whatever I wanted, and he even prescribed iron, vitamin C, B complex, and other letters of the alphabet. I had to painstakingly take three to four supplements a day. My generous grandmother provided me with the treats after every meal. Nothing happened. I was — and still am — as thin and flimsy as an angel fish.

       I had been faithfully fasting since 2003 when I first joined a community in Makati. So when Bro. Bo Sanchez advised the community that underweight people are not supposed to fast from food, my heart was crushed, and every inch of my body was asking why. Well, medically speaking, I knew the answer, but deep down during my prayer time, God impressed upon me that I should still fast from something as basic as food. Why? Because I learned something as basic as self-control. Ems Sy Chan (havenofleeanne@yahoo.com)

Reflection: How does God want you to fast? Listen to His voice and not your own.

May our sacrifice be pleasing and acceptable in Your eyes, O Lord.

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs, pray for us.

Isaiah chastises the Jewish people for their lack of faithfulness to the ways of the Lord. He calls them to a new beginning, whereby they will live the fullness of their religious faith without compromise or hypocrisy. This is a challenge we all face, each in our own circumstances. Let us ask God for the grace to remain faithful to Him.

1 Thus says the Lord God: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; they ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. 3 “Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. 4 Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! 5 Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 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; 7 sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am!

1 [3] Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 2 [4] Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) 3 [5] For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always. 4 [6] “Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” (R) 16 [18] For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. 17 [19] My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (R)

Jesus is not interested in splitting hairs about the legal requirements of the faith. Religion is found in the heart of each person. It is there that the true measure of religion lies, as it is in our hearts that our relationships find their basis and origin. Christianity is all about our relationships — with God (loving Him and doing His will) and with others.

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.

14 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

think: Christianity is all about our relationships — with God (loving Him and doing His will) and with others.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Revelations 1-3

A priest went into a restaurant to have a late dinner. He chanced upon a group of rowdy teens shouting, making fun of the food, and heckling the waitress. When the food was set before him, he bowed his head in prayer, said grace and made the sign of the cross. One of the smart alecks in the group thought of making fun of the priest and spoke in a way audible to the whole diner, “So, we have a saint in the house.” Turning to the priest he asked, “Does everyone do that where you came from, padre?” The priest turned to the boy and responded quickly, “No, son, the pigs don’t.”

       Does it really make a difference if you bless the food or not? Does the prayer make the food more palatable? Does the blessing banish all the unwanted calories and cholesterol? I concede it probably won’t.

       So do I bless my food every time I sit before the dining table? Yes, I do, always. I bow my head in prayer and utter a prayer of thanksgiving because when I do so, the food ceases to be just a bodily and gastronomic treat. When I bless God for the food I take, it becomes food for the soul as well. When I bless God for the food I take, I open my heart in gratitude and my soul is nourished as well. When I bless God for the food I take, I dispose myself to the consciousness that “man does not live by bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Food not prayed over surely nourishes the body, but food blessed and prayed over nourishes the body and soul.

       This is why fasting is an essential part of Christian spirituality. Both the First Reading and the Gospel speak of the practice of fasting. Why do we fast? Not because food is bad. We fast in order to tame our physical appetite, which aims only for self-satisfaction, so as to rouse our spiritual appetite to “free the oppressed, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked,” as Isaiah the Prophet enjoins us in the First Reading. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you engage in fasting as a conscious practice to rouse your spirit or is fasting simply for you a dietary requirement? What is the social and apostolic dimension of your practice of fasting?

Purify my intentions, Lord, as I fast this Lenten season.