Matthew 9:14-15:
“Would they ever think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is with them?”.
Jesus does not want a merely ritualistic fast.
He does not want a sad fasting or a fast for fasting’s sake.
He does not want a fasting that can fatten our religious ego.
The fasting Jesus wants is the fasting that has repercussions for the benefit of others and that brings me closer to the Father.
It can be very beneficial for us to go without food. But such privation has to be more in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and to bring us closer to them.
It is more difficult, but also more effective, to fast from attitudes and situations that block us or we make it impossible for our relationship with others and our relationship with God: jealousy, intolerance, selfishly grasping, misunderstandings, bitterness… and so many other things that draw us away from our sisters brothers and from the Father.
Fast today from all those things that keep you from getting closer to your sisters and brothers and to your Father.
Good day.
Antonio Sanjuán Marín, cmf
