The Display ...

A LENTEN PILGRIMAGE

Rev. Fr. K M George 

It may seem paradoxical that the Lenten prayers exalt and denounce fasting in the same breath. Day by day the prayers portray to us the examples of Moses and Elijah, who fasted for forty days and received great rewards. Above all we have the supreme model of Jesus who fasted for forty days and conquered the temptations of body and mind.

The prayers declare that abstinence from food is trivial and of no spiritual value unless accompanied by acts of love, forgiveness and compassion. For many people observing the Lenten fast is simply abstaining from certain types of food like meat, milk products and eggs.

One of the essential readings is the passage from the book of Isaiah (58:1ff) where the prophet is severely critical of the fasting practised by many in his time. The prophetic Word of God accuses the fasters that they exploited their workers on the day of fasting; their fasting often ended in quarrels, strife and physical violence to each other. The prophet attacks also those who display publicly the external signs of fasting such as bowing their heads like a reed, and spreading out sackcloth and ashes around them. 

Then God’s word says:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.”

(Isaiah 58:6).

Jesus obviously takes this up in His criticism of the Pharisees and Scribes:

“When you fast do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.”

(Matthew 6:16. See also Luke 4:16-1).

The Lenten prayers try to bring home to us the true spirit of fasting. That is why they paradoxically advocate and denounce fasting at the same time. We need to maintain this self-criticism as essential for our spiritual growth. It is a real danger for us that we unknowingly tend to display to others our fasting signs while we forget about the real purpose and outcome of fasting.