Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ Jesus
Hope you all are in good health and enjoying the fellowship of our Savior in this New Year.
As we enter the Nineveh Lent, or the Three Day Lent as it is commonly known, I would be deviating from the series that I am currently writing to write about the Orthodox teachings on True Fasting .
True Fasting
What is fasting? If you Google it out, you would find this answer, "Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from all food, drink, or both, for a period of time." But is that only it? In the words of St. John Chryostom, "Fasting is a medicine", but in the hands of an inexperienced person, the same medicine which can be used to cure the ailments of the soul can become a poison and destroy the person who is taking the fast. When we pray, or make an invocation, or make any supplication, or when we go to the Embassy of our Lord with many tears, this Fast is an ally, and as an assistant is a Good Intercessor.
Just like while taking a medicine, while taking a fast, the person has to know the appropriate time that it has to be taken, the appropriate amount, the condition of the body which is to observe the fast and many other things. If any one these is overlooked, it causes more harm than good. Just as we are concerned for the healing of the physical body and such accuracy is required for the same, then it is also necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail for the healing of the soul too.
So how do we examine and observe these details? St. John Chrysostom again gives a solid example as such:
When the winter is over and the summer is appearing, the sailor readies his ship for voyage by taking his ship to deeper waters; the soldier polishes his arms and rubs his horse to ready him for battle; and the farmer sharpens his sickle; and the wrestler strips his clothing and bares himself for the fight.
So too, when fast, like a kind of spiritual summer, makes its appearance, let us like soldiers ready our weapons, like the farmer sharpen our sickle, and like the sailor order our thoughts against the waves of extravagant desires; and as travelers let us set our journey towards heaven, and as wrestlers let us strip ourselves for the contest. For the believer is at once a farmer, and a sailor, and a soldier, a wrestler, and a traveler.
St. Paul also says "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power. Put on therefore the whole Armour of God" (Ephesians 6:12)
Fasting is the change of every past of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, if anyone limits the fast to the abstinence of food, he is, in the words of St. John Chrysostom, "is the one who in reality abhors and ridicules the fast". So are you fasting?
You should remember the bold and daring saying that "he who eats for the glory of the Lord eats and he who does not eat for the glory of the Lord does not eat and pleases God." For he who fasts pleases God because he has the strength to endure the fatigue of the fast and he that eats also pleases God because nothing of this sort can harm the salvation of his soul, as long as he does not want it to. Because our philanthropic God showed us so many ways by which we can, if we desire, take part in God's power that it is impossible to mention them all.
In the end, you should not be ashamed because you were not able to maintain the fast, because food does not bring on shame, but the act of wrongdoing. Sin is a great shame. If we commit it, not only should we feel ashamed but we should cover ourselves exactly the same way those who are wounded do. Even then we should not forsake ourselves but rush to confession and thanksgiving. We have such a Lord who asks nothing of us but to confess our sins, after the commitment of a sin which was due to our indifference, and to stop at that point and not to fall into the same one again. If we eat with moderation we should never be ashamed, because the Creator gave us such a body which cannot be supported in any other way except by receiving food. Let us only stop excessive food because that attributes a great deal to the health and well-being of the body.
Let us therefore in every way cast off every destructive madness so that we may gain the goods which have been promised to us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Abridged from St. John Chrysostom homilies "On Fasting"
Hope you all are in good health and enjoying the fellowship of our Savior in this New Year.
As we enter the Nineveh Lent, or the Three Day Lent as it is commonly known, I would be deviating from the series that I am currently writing to write about the Orthodox teachings on True Fasting .
True Fasting
Gluttony makes a man gloomy and fearful, but fasting makes him joyful and courageous.
And, as gluttony calls forth greater and greater gluttony, so fasting stimulates greater and greater endurance.
When a man realizes the grace that comes through fasting, he desires to fast more and more.
And the graces that come through fasting are countless....
~St. Nikolai of Zicha
What is fasting? If you Google it out, you would find this answer, "Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from all food, drink, or both, for a period of time." But is that only it? In the words of St. John Chryostom, "Fasting is a medicine", but in the hands of an inexperienced person, the same medicine which can be used to cure the ailments of the soul can become a poison and destroy the person who is taking the fast. When we pray, or make an invocation, or make any supplication, or when we go to the Embassy of our Lord with many tears, this Fast is an ally, and as an assistant is a Good Intercessor.
Just like while taking a medicine, while taking a fast, the person has to know the appropriate time that it has to be taken, the appropriate amount, the condition of the body which is to observe the fast and many other things. If any one these is overlooked, it causes more harm than good. Just as we are concerned for the healing of the physical body and such accuracy is required for the same, then it is also necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail for the healing of the soul too.
So how do we examine and observe these details? St. John Chrysostom again gives a solid example as such:
When the winter is over and the summer is appearing, the sailor readies his ship for voyage by taking his ship to deeper waters; the soldier polishes his arms and rubs his horse to ready him for battle; and the farmer sharpens his sickle; and the wrestler strips his clothing and bares himself for the fight.
So too, when fast, like a kind of spiritual summer, makes its appearance, let us like soldiers ready our weapons, like the farmer sharpen our sickle, and like the sailor order our thoughts against the waves of extravagant desires; and as travelers let us set our journey towards heaven, and as wrestlers let us strip ourselves for the contest. For the believer is at once a farmer, and a sailor, and a soldier, a wrestler, and a traveler.
St. Paul also says "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power. Put on therefore the whole Armour of God" (Ephesians 6:12)
Fasting is the change of every past of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, if anyone limits the fast to the abstinence of food, he is, in the words of St. John Chrysostom, "is the one who in reality abhors and ridicules the fast". So are you fasting?
Give me proof of it by your works. Which works?In other words, not only should the mouth fast, but the eyes and the legs and the arms and all the other parts of the body should fast as well. Let the hands fast, remaining clean from stealing and greediness. Let the legs fast, avoiding roads which lead to sinful sights. Let the eyes fast by not fixing themselves on beautiful faces and by not observing the beauty of others. You should not eat debauchery with your eyes as well. Let your hearing also fast. The fast of hearing is not to accept bad talk against others and sly defamation of others.
If you see someone who is poor, show him mercy.
If you see an enemy, reconcile with him.
If you see a friend who is becoming successful, do not b jealous of him!
If you see a beautiful woman on the street, pass her by.
Let the mouth fast from disgraceful and abusive words, because, what gain is there when, on the one hand we avoid eating chicken and fish and, on the other, we chew-up and consume our brothers? He who condemns and blasphemes is as if he has eaten brotherly meat, as if he has bitten into the flesh of his fellow man. It is because of this that Paul frightened us, saying: "If you chew up and consume one another be careful that you do not annihilate yourselves."
So what about those who cannot go without eating all day because of some medical issues?
Dear Brothers and Sisters remember that we have a Lord who is loving and who does not ask for anything beyond our power. He does not require us to abstain ourself from food, nor taht we keep our stomachs empty, but that we offer our entire selves to the dedication of spiritual things, having distanced ourselves from the worldly desires. We should regulate our lives with a sober mind and direct all our interest toward spiritual things. Therefore, you who eats and cannot fast, display richer almsgiving, pray more, have more intense desire to hear divine words. Become reconciled to your enemies, distance your soul from every resentment. If you are able to do this, then you have observed the true fast, which is what our Lord asks of us more than anything else. It is for this very reason He asks us to abstain from food, in order to place the flesh in subjection to the fulfillment of His commandments.
In the end, you should not be ashamed because you were not able to maintain the fast, because food does not bring on shame, but the act of wrongdoing. Sin is a great shame. If we commit it, not only should we feel ashamed but we should cover ourselves exactly the same way those who are wounded do. Even then we should not forsake ourselves but rush to confession and thanksgiving. We have such a Lord who asks nothing of us but to confess our sins, after the commitment of a sin which was due to our indifference, and to stop at that point and not to fall into the same one again. If we eat with moderation we should never be ashamed, because the Creator gave us such a body which cannot be supported in any other way except by receiving food. Let us only stop excessive food because that attributes a great deal to the health and well-being of the body.
Let us therefore in every way cast off every destructive madness so that we may gain the goods which have been promised to us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Abridged from St. John Chrysostom homilies "On Fasting"
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