Fasting Reflection
It is also a primal instinct to care for our young. Part of caring for them is to feed them. If we love them and do all sorts of things for them, but do not feed them, we are completely negligent and considered inflicting a sinful deprivation of primal need. By not feeding our young at all, we would cause their death. By not feeding them with healthy food, we cause them illness. Both of these are severe nurturing failures which are punishable by natural and civil law.
The instinct of hunger is the most powerful instinct we possess. As creatures, if we are deprived of food, we become desperate to eat. Advancing hunger changes behavior, to become animalistic; we either reduce ourselves to eating something disgusting just to satisfy this intense need, or it has been known to drive some to kill one another for food. And the strange thing about eating to satisfy the hunger is, that the satisfaction only lasts a few hours. So, in essence - we were created "hungry". Almost all the time we are instinctively needing food to sustain the flesh.
As a mother who has to spend a great deal of my life, resources and time to plan meals, purchase food, store it, preserve it, then prepare it...then clean up after it, over and over 3 times a day - I have often asked God: "Lord, what were you thinking? Why do we have to eat so danged much?" I still ask Him this question.
One of the answers is that it forces us to sit down and converse, share, build relationship. God created meals to be the center of family unity. Jesus taught us this by often using a meal as the center of an important social event or connection between people, cultures, classes of people. He spoke of wedding feasts often in his parables.
As prayer warriors we have been taught that fasting has incredible power, and that God wants us to fast and pray often, especially now in this age of sin and evil. Our Lady of Medjugorje has been begging us to fulfill a strict bread and water fast 2 days a week since 1981. That is far stricter than the church requires during lent! As Children of the Tears we see her tears which are caused by the loss of souls, and are absolutely grieved by it - so we have profound motivation to fulfill her instruction to fast. So fasting obviously has power. She told the visionaries that fasting and prayer can even stop wars, and suspend the laws of nature. Those are bold words!
Now, why, Lord, would you place this intense need to eat within us, then urge us not to do it? It's got to be all about the will. We are being challenged to place the will of sacrifice over primal instinct. It's all about self control. Control of the flesh.
We all know it's difficult to fast. I used to be good at it back before I had a family to feed. And to be honest, I grew weary of eating. I whispered at times, 'Lord I am sick of eating - all the time and all the time and all the time'. In fact, I fasted so much, I developed an illness which resulted in a health fragility that I suffer to this day, which requires delicate management of. Now that I have to prepare and cook meals and spend so much time, money resources, to feed my family, I find it nearly impossible to fast. I have had to learn to fast from other things, but the Lord still wants us to fast with our stomachs. So this lent we shall intensify effort to master this difficult challenge.
The other thing worth reflecting, is how much importance Christ placed on the eating of His flesh in the Holy Eucharist. He didn't just say to eat it on occasion when we wanted to feel good, or needed to be holy. His command was so powerful, that He lost a huge swath of his followers over this teaching. And - He didn't seem to care that he lost them. They were instantly disgusted with Him and accused Him of cannibalism. Yet, He was totally okay with that. He didn't sit around and lament that they walked off, or try to go back and get them, or try to explain it in a different way. He remained hard core about it. He so firmly commanded us to eat his body and blood - that He proclaimed we would not have life in us, period. Declaring we wouldn't make it to heaven without it! There is nothing so bold as his teaching on the Holy Eucharist in John 6. Sadly, protestants to this day have rejected this teaching.
The other thing I find fascinating, is that God uses our fasting as a doorway to the Holy Spirit. By prayerfully offering our fasts, we become clay for the Holy Spirit to shape, form us, infuse knowledge, wisdom, enlightenment.
So - here we are. It's 2013. We live in the most sinful age known to mankind. We also live in the most technologically advanced age. Most civilized nations have every sort of convenience. Advanced transportation allows us almost every sort of food, flavor. And we are pretty darned addicted to our spices, flavors, cuisines.
Why did God equate penance and sacrifice with starvation? John the Baptist, and Jesus - both set profound examples of fasting. John the Baptist lived in the desert, wandered around like a savage, and ate locusts and honey. This seems so repulsive to us; even if we were dying we would probably refuse chewing on locusts. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Sheesh, the longest I ever fasted was nine days on bread and water and I thought I was going to die. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth back into regular food again. And for weeks after that long fast, I didn't even want to LOOK at bread.
So, here I sit, still asking God. "What gives?" Such a profound dichotomy. 'Lord, why did you choose hunger, as the means to save souls? To suspend the laws of nature, and stop wars? Why is it so spiritually powerful?' It makes me think our bodies contain such interesting secrets of the spirit, from which we have no idea. We are flesh and spirit. And God gave us hunger. In this age of overwhelming sin - He calls us to offer this incense to Him. It has eternal consequences - of life and death. To His people; who were so important to Him that He died for them.
I guess we are not meant to understand. Instead, just.... mind our Mother.
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