The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. Matthew 9:15
Opening a shade just a little in an early morning hour can fill a dark room with soft light. Darkness is dispelled, and there is enough light to see what is essential. Marvelous things happen for such a small effort. A small obstacle, once lifted, affords sight.
Fasting may seem to have lost its original purpose in our culture. We may do it, and then go about the business of the day, not understanding whatever connection it may have with our daily routines.
Fasting may be likened to the slight opening of that shade, a way of letting God in. Enough light enters to see what is necessary so that we may more easily find our way. To give up some food can be done with a prayer that we become receptive to the nourishment that is God. It is to recognize that we do not and indeed cannot live by bread alone, and to ask for the food that is God, the God who is the. real sustenance and light of our days and nights.
Fr. James Stephen Behrens
Originally published March 3, 1995
