Today, I woke up hungry. I don't usually wake up hungry, so I quickly remembered, I denied myself yesterday. Not because I wanted to lose a pound or two but because the Catholic church calls for the faithful to fast & abstain from meat two days a year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (and Holy Saturday if your friends once admonished you to take up this practice!)
We are also encouraged to fast during Lent. Fasting for 40 days involves denying ourselves of something. Maybe we fast from something we enjoy (chocolate, coffee, a glass of wine after work) or something that is not healthy for us (too many glasses of wine after work). Some of us need to fast from something that leads us to sin.
Fasting isn't just another task or practice of our faith. It has meaning. We sacrifice to refocus our mind, body and soul on what is most important in our lives. Mother Teresa said:
"We need to be emptied before God can fill us".
No matter what we sacrifice, we can use this time to rely on the Lord to fill us instead of turning to a vice to relieve stress or hurt in our lives. It is easy to turn to some THING rather than some ONE, The One, when life gets a little complicated. It is easier to fill our stomachs, our closets, our whatever than to sit in silence with the Lord, and listen. As we begin our Lenten journey, let us chose to deny ourselves of that something so we can rely on the Lord to fill us. #livinglent2