By the theme of this reflection, one may be wondering whether there could be a fast that is not acceptable by God.
Fasting is not about avoiding food and drinking. The season of lent goes beyond skipping meals in the morning and afternoon and enduring till evening to feast on whatever we can lay our hands on.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah highlighted some of the things we do that could render our fast unacceptable to God.
Why would God accept our fast when we still indulge in oppression of the weak? When we can not even notice the poor and the hungry to feed them? When we still engage in fraudulent businesses and cheating people at the slightest opportunity we get?
What God wants from you in your fasting is “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.” (Isaiah 58:6-9a)
This will show the depth of our desire for God and that we are not doing what we do not understand. And that we are not fasting because others are fasting.
The psalm of today says that “a broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.” In our fasting, we must come to God in all humility, ready to amend our relationship with Him and with our neighbours as well. This is the kind of fasting that is acceptable to God.
We pray that God may give us the grace for true repentance and may our fasting be acceptable in His sight.
Peace be with you 🙏🏾🙌🏾
Leave a comment