Recently, someone posted a statement on Facebook which made a hypothetical statement. ” If you were to become a millionaire today would you still take care of your relatives”. My wife, Anna, and I always get a good laugh at statements like these. We will never be millionaires. Nonetheless, all our lives we have helped relatives, friends and complete strangers. Why would millionaire status change anything? Please note this is “March Forth” Friday and not fantasy Friday.
Psalm 58 says Why do we fast and you take no note of it? Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting. Attitude is everything. The above quote seems to question what is our attitude. Do we do it because we are supposed to fast because of some rule or do we do it to recognize our dependence on God and our fellow man?
Psalm 58 defines that a real fast is not only giving up food or something else. Fasting is proactive to others in need. We may give more than others but what we forget is that they also give to us. The accounting at the end of life is not a balance sheet.
Let me tell you what I am doing for Lent to fast. I am giving some foods, but more importantly, I am doing something positive for someone else. I work part time and one of the men at work is a Veteran and has PTSD( Post traumatic stress disorder) . He was Catholic, divorced, remarried and he is hurting. At the moment he is not seeking help. He seems to function well. He says he has been taking care of it by himself . I have been talking to him as a fellow veteran and I have volunteered to help him get assistance from the Veterans Administration.
He is open to my help but has committed to only consider my help. I am not trying to councel him myself but steer him in the direction of professional councelors. First, I have to earn his trust. It may not work but with prayer and my moral support he may seek help. He has the option of continuing to cope on his own or seek treatment. Somehow, the Holy Spirit has put him on my heart. My febble efforts may not work. However, it is part of the puzzle that explains why a fast is not only giving up a food but taking care of each other. One of the talks on a Cursillo weekend say that, “God and I are an overwhelming majority.” This only works when we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
What about your Lent?
If you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holyday honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests or speaking with malice – Then you shall delight in the Lord. It is not too late. The Holy season of Lent is a journey and not a race “Marching forth” . We are all in this together. Those that help and those who are the receipients.
Jesus says in today’s Gospel. Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom in with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
A true fast is not ashes or what we give up but what we give to others in need. Just like the writers at “A Catholic Moment” we contribute out of love as Christ directed. Our fast is an act of that love.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray for all those with Cancer and their caregivers. Pray for Russia and Ukraine. Pray for my veteran friend. Pray for all of us to complete a true fast during this Lenten season.
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