Understanding Fasting
by: Father Anthony Michaels
Most of us have heard, if not practiced, the various and numerous diets out there. From Dr. Atkins to the South Beach Diet to every other more startling book on health, fitness and slimness, the whole country, it seems, is obsessed with “getting fit.”
During the season of Christmas, called the season of Advent, in the Church (it is called Advent because we are waiting for the ‘advent” or coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at His birth), we are told to try to fast from November 15th until Christmas day. This is our time to work on getting spiritually fit.
This fast is one of the four major fasts of the Church year. Usually, all the fasts, if they are to be done in detail, are fasts from meat and dairy products. The Christmas fast permits fish on most days however. If you have never practiced the Christmas fast, I would suggest that you begin by trying to give up meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, which are fast days throughout the year. Keep the rest of your diet the same as before. If you feel that you can do more, try fasting from meat until Christmas. Some people may want to fulfill the Church fast in total. For them, they can fast from both meat and dairy products until Christmas. The Church’s standard is the stricter diet, but not all of us are capable, at this time, of doing it, It is better to do a little than to be discouraged because we can’t do a lot. The Holy Fathers say that we should be content with one serving per meal, and not go for seconds. It seems the Holy Fathers agree with most modern diets!
Fasting, although it includes not eating some foods, is kind of a spiritual diet. It’s purpose is to help us realize that we need God for everything. Jesus said to the devil who tempted him to turn stones into bread because Jesus had fasted for forty days on the mountain (see the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke - chapter four in both Gospels) and was hunger, that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Fasting helps us concentrate on the commandments of God, on the word of God, Once I heard it said: “nothing cleans the house better than knowing that company is coming.” And we know that is true. We fast to clean out all the stuff we put in our souls that clutter up our minds so that we forget about important things, about our spiritual lives. That’s why Jesus said that we need to be with and listen to God’s words along with living our daily lives, along with the food and entertainment we seek. When our house our heart is cleaned, when fasting sweeps the place clean and prayer polishes and dresses up the rooms of our souls, Jesus can have room to rest in the spacious places of our persons. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him.” (Jn. 14.23)
Fasting also includes making our lives more quiet so we can hear God speaking. If we are always going out and getting ready to go out, chances are that we will neglect the time needed to pray. Fasting helps us pray, because it cuts down on the amount of time we spent on food and fun, so to speak. So a true fast includes being more selective about what we watch on T.V. and what we choose to seek on the Internet, etc. It also means we stay at home more and read inspirational books, especially the Bible stories