TOS031 Prayer through Fasting with Patti Brunner (Part 6) 

for audio: TOS031: Prayer through Fasting – Truth of the Spirit (podcast) | Listen Notes

Truth of the Spirit Podcast TOS031 Prayer through Fasting with Patti Brunner of the series Prayer-Reaching Out to God. Have you ever had the doldrums when it came to prayer time and you just found yourself seemingly going through the motions?  Or perhaps you even found it impossible to pray?  When distractions overwhelm you to where your mind just won’t settle down and focus?  Does that happen to you?   I have an answer for you!  Enter into the prayer of fasting!  St. Thomas Aquinas says that “we fast for three purposes:  to restrain the desires of the flesh; to raise the mind to contemplate sublime things; and to make satisfaction for our sins.”  St. John Chrysostom realized that fasting is not only from food. It’s not just food that leads us away from God.  He recommended, “Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.”  Join Patti Brunner for this episode as she shows how the Church encourages us to fast and the benefits that can come forth.

Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I’m Patti Brunner. Our topic today is Prayer through Fasting.
Have you ever had the doldrums when it came to prayer time and you just found yourself seemingly going through the motions? Or perhaps you even found it impossible to pray? When distractions overwhelm you to where your mind just won’t settle down and focus? Does that happen to you? I have an answer for you! Enter into the prayer of fasting! Then pair that fasting with the Sacrament of Reconciliation and you will feel like you’ve gotten a new lease on life—renewed and refreshed!
St. Peter Chrysologus tells us that “Fasting is the soul of prayer” then “mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.”
St. Thomas Aquinas says that “we fast for three purposes: to restrain the desires of the flesh; to raise the mind to contemplate sublime things; and to make satisfaction for our sins. These are good and noble things, and so fasting is virtuous.”
Jesus fasted in the desert before beginning his public ministry. The Church calls for fasting in Lent in preparation to celebrate Easter. The Church also calls for fasting to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Where does this fasting have its source? Why does the Church call us to fast from food?
In “A Reflection On Lenten Fasting” by Father Daniel Merz, he wrote that: “Humanity’s “fall” away from God and into sin began with eating. God had proclaimed a fast from the fruit of only one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17), and Adam and Eve broke it. Fasting is here connected with the very mystery of life and death, of salvation and damnation…Humanity, in Adam and Eve, rejected a life dependent on God alone for one that was dependent rather on “bread alone.” (Dt. 8:3; Mt. 4:4; Lk. 4:4)
“The whole world was given to man as a kind of food, as a means to life, but “life” is meant as communion with God, not as food. Paul wrote to the Philippians.” [Rev.Daniel Merz]
“Their god is their belly.” (Phil. 3:19). We have to ask, “is food our God sometimes?”
“The tragedy is not so much that Adam ate food, but that he ate the food for its own sake, “apart” from God and to be independent of Him. Believing that food had life in itself and thus he could be “like God.” And he put his faith in food.” [Rev. Daniel Merz]
That if he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he could be like God. So our fasting from food seeks to reverse that.
St. Faustina [Kowalska], the saint who inspired devotion to Divine Mercy, she requested a penitential fast and she said that “On three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, there will be a strict fast” on bread and water.
The significance of the days of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are that Wednesday was the day Christ was betrayed, Friday was the day He was crucified, and Saturday was the day He was placed within the tomb.
To help us to overcome faith in food we use our free will to fast.
This prayer of fasting can be severe; we can restrict our food severely like St. Faustina recommends or fasting might not involve food at all.
In the Gospel of Mark chapter 9:43-48 , Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”
At first this sounds like a severe remedy by Jesus, but I see it as a call to fast. Rather than trimming our appendages, cutting them off, trim the deeds of sin by fasting from them.
St. John Chrysostom realized that fasting is not only from food. It’s not just food that leads us away from God. He recommended, “Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eye fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.”—Well, there are certainly a lot of eyes that are cast at sinful things in our day and time, isn’t there! —“Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and criticism.”— to fast from criticism!—“ For what good is it if we abstain from fowl and fishes, but bite and devour one another?” So this lines up with the scripture that Jesus said, didn’t it!
One area my family struggles with is the words of criticism. Recently we have been praying the Novena “Mary Undoer of Knots”, and I was praying that this morning and I realized that the little imperfections that cause me to complain are not going to be in heaven. So instead of complaining that the meat is too salty I can just fast from complaining and remember that in heaven the meat will be perfectly prepared. It will be savory. It will not have too much salt. It will not have too much fat or too much lean. It won’t be old and stinky. It will be perfect and perfectly prepared. Instead of being critical of imperfections in myself or other members of the family, I can praise God that in heaven we will be mirror images of God’s love and in heaven there will be perfection. So maybe that’s going to help me a little bit to fast from some of my criticisms of others.
The Church understands that we struggle. We need fasting so Canon Law, which applies to every Catholic in the world, instructs us in divine law.
Canon 1249 decrees: “The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.”
Canon law continues to say:
Can. 1250 “The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.”
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. [We know that when we have solemnities and feasts we are supposed to be celebrating.] Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
The USCCB’ Information on Fasting says, “–For the two days of the year when the Church requires fasting of Catholics (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday), the parameters of the fast are given as: “When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal.” [Pretty simple, isn’t it?] Catholics may, of course, eat less, but this is considered the minimum required.”
In 1966 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence realized that abstaining from meat on Fridays during the year is not much of a penance because Catholics would just go out and have fish or shrimp, and even lobster. So it’s not really much of a fast. During Lent we still have the “no eat meat” on Fridays. But the rest of the Fridays of the year they asked us to choose something that we like the most and give it up.
Far from downgrading the traditional penitential observance of Friday, they were motivated precisely by the desire to give the spirit of penance a greater vitality.
The bishops remind us that “22. Friday itself remains a special day of penitential observance throughout the year, a time when those who seek perfection will be mindful of their personal sins and the sins of mankind which they are called upon to help expiate in union with Christ Crucified.” So we do those special fasts or special penance on Fridays because Friday is the day that Jesus was crucified. We remember that all year long and so we should fast from something, some kind of self-denial or mortification, a prayerful remembrance of the passion of Jesus Christ.
I made Cursillo over 20 years ago and, as a Cursillista, we have a call to offer what is called palanca for those making their three day Cursillo retreat. Over the years I have offered various types of unique fasts for their benefit. Once I gave up watching a favorite soap opera that I had watched for 25 years from the time I was first married. I gave it up for a month. When the month-long fast was complete, suddenly I realized that I should not have been watching it in the first place. The show was not appropriate for my children; I had watched it while my children were growing up. So by fasting from something I enjoyed the most, it really helped me to change and start seeing things in a different light. Another time I fasted from a diet soda. Doctors say that diet drinks are not good for us. I didn’t realize I was addicted to it. After the fast was over, after the month, the taste for it was gone. I thought, “This taste horrible!” My taste for it was gone. I don’t know if it tasted horrible all the time or if the Lord just let it taste bad for me. I must also admit that I have fasted from chocolate and from tortilla chips and those still taste pretty good! They are opportunities for other fasts of favorite things!
Fasting is not only what the Church decrees.
On March 6, 1799, President John Adams called for a National Fast Day for the newly formed United States of America. Let me read a section of what he wrote:
“I have thought proper to recommend, and I hereby recommend accordingly, that Thursday, the twenty-fifth day of April next, be observed throughout the United States of America as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain, as far as may be, from their secular occupation, and devote the time to the sacred duties of religion, in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the most high God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore his pardoning mercy, though the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit, we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to his righteous requisitions in time to come; that He would interpose to arrest the progress of that impiety and licentiousness in principle and practice so offensive to Himself and so ruinous to mankind”.
This presidential call to fast in the United States took place just 11 years after the Constitution of the United States was ratified. It makes it obvious that the Constitution never intended our country and its citizens to be without submission to God.
In the middle of the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Fast Day. He wrote:
“I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion. All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.”
That’s beautiful, isn’t it! Our country continues to have a National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of May. I thought it was most unusual that both of these presidents asked us to lay aside all work, all secular work, to spend the day in prayer and fasting and petitioning God for his mercy and blessings.
Our Church from time to time spends whole day in prayer and fasting. Pope Francis invited Catholics around the world to participate in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace on Friday, February 23, 2018, in order to pray for “the tragic prolonging of conflicts in various parts of the world,” particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI gives some guiding words about fasting in his 2009 Lenten message that: “The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it.”
And that “Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”
How is fasting a prayer? Let’s look to scripture.
Acts 14: 21b-23 Paul and Barnabas “returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.
I wonder what difference it would make if everyone would spend time in prayer and fasting before making any important decisions.
In Luke 2:36-38, the Gospel tells us about the prophetess, Anna, who was present in the temple when the child Jesus was presented. Anna was an elderly widow, eighty-four years old. “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” So the temple was like a 24 hour adoration chapel for her. She was there every time the door was opened. She was in there praying and fasting. And she was there and prophesied about the baby Jesus when he was presented.
Christian fasting is not concerned with dieting to lose weight. Some people will do cleansing fasts, or medical fasts. That’s not what Christian fasting is about. When our prayer is accompanied by fasting, it magnifies the opportunity of encountering Christ. I’ll talk a little later about the many benefits of fasting.
Let’s look at a scripture that helps us understand the basis of fasting.
The Gospel of Matthew chapter 4: 1-4 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.” –If I fasted for 40 days I would be hungry too!– “The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”
Hunger and craving is that state in which we realize our dependence on something else—it can cause us to face the ultimate question: “on what does my life depend?” Does my life depend on eating whatever I want whenever I want? Does my life depend on the hours spent gaming, watching entertainment or surfing the internet? Does my life depend on immoral activities? You see, self-denial sharpens your senses by emptying self-gratification. Christ is the new Adam. Satan tempted both Adam and Christ, saying: “Eat.” Satan was telling them that hunger was proof that you depend entirely on food–that your life is in food. Adam believed him and Adam ate. He broke the fast that God had commanded. Christ said, “Man does NOT live by bread alone.” (Mt. 4:4). This liberates us from total dependence on food, on matter, on the world.
In Mark’s Gospel chapter 9, a man whose son had a mute spirit that seized him and threw him around approached Jesus for help. He had already asked the disciples to help him but they were unable to do anything. Now, they should have been able to do something. You see, earlier, in Mark chapter 6, Jesus gave the apostles authority over unclean spirits [v.7]. Mark 6:12-13 “So they went out and preached that men should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.” But not this guy’s son, he was not healed and so he brought him to Jesus. Jesus rebuked the spirit and it came out. Later on, in Mark 9:27-29 “And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” [NRSV-CE]
Thus the Lord Jesus Christ let us know that there are spiritual battles which can be won by nothing but by prayer and fasting–not prayer alone, but prayer and fasting. It has been suggested that perhaps this is one reason fellow Catholics skip mass or don’t attend bible studies and skip spiritual formation. We haven’t won the victory of prayer in our daily lives. Too often we aren’t in the regular habit of subduing the flesh in order to serve the Spirit. When we fast, we are not forcing God to do something, but are resisting supernatural strongholds and powers.
The prayer of fasting is also used as preparation for great feasts as well as preparation for special events. In Acts 9:8-9 we learn of how Paul spent 3 days fasting after his amazing conversion experience. “Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”
Did not Jesus fast 40 days before his public ministry? Does not the Church fast 40 days before the feast of Easter? Why are these fasts important? You’ll be surprised at the powerful effect of fasting. Self-denial opens the door, opens the way for the realm of God to move supernaturally and it lays a hedge of protection to keep the enemy at bay. When we are stuffed so full, we cannot hold another morsel. Whether a fine Thanksgiving meal or a 4th of July barbecue all we want to do is push back from the table and nap. When we are stuffed full of stuff there is little room for God. One of the first benefits of fasting is the raising of the appetite causing a search for something to fill the craving. As nature shows us in the natural the supernatural works along the same process.
Fasting is not a punishment. Teaching us about prayer Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” RSV-CE.
Reward us? What kind of rewards? There are many benefits of relationship with God when we use self-denial.
On the USCCB website in the Prayer and Liturgy section on Lent and Penitential Practices for Today’s Catholics it says: “Fasting assists us in getting our own house in order. All of us have to deal with areas of servitude” –being addicted to things is like being in slavery– “whether in regard to smoking or alcohol consumption, misused sexuality, uncontrolled gambling, psychological hang-ups, spiritual obsessions, use of stimulants, immoderate use of the Internet, excessive amounts of television watching, or preoccupations with other forms of entertainment.” The USCCB continues, “By fasting and self-denial, by living lives of moderation, we have more energy to devote to God’s purposes and a better self-esteem that helps us to be more concerned with the well-being of others. Voluntary fasting from food creates in us a greater openness to God’s Spirit and deepens our compassion for those who are forced to go without food. The discomfort brought about by fasting unites us to the sufferings of Christ. Fasting should bring to mind the sufferings of all those for whom Christ suffered. One may refrain from certain foods strictly for dietary purposes, but this would not be Christian penance. Rather, our fasting and refraining is in response to the workings of the Holy Spirit. By fasting we sense a deeper hunger and thirst for God. In a paradoxical way, we feast through fasting—we feast on the spiritual values that lead to works of charity and service.”
I invite you to check out the website that is designed just about fasting, it is published by livethefast.org, [this website is no longer available] it lists some of the following benefits to fasting:
Fasting opens up our hearts to conversion
Fasting gives weight to our prayer intentions
Fasting strengthens us in resisting temptations [We saw that through Jesus’ actions, didn’t we!]
Fasting and prayer promote peace in our hearts and peace with one another
Fasting teaches us the difference between “wanting” and “needing”
Fasting reminds us of the plight of the poor and for many in the world who are perpetually hungry
Fasting and prayer can free us from addictive behavior [Just as you saw that I was addicted to watching that soap opera and to that diet soda. And I was set free of those things.]
“Fasting will lead us to a new freedom of heart and mind.” — Fr. Slavko Barbaric O.F.M
Fasting invites the Holy Spirit in to heal our hearts, our relationship with God and our relationship with others
The list of benefits of fasting can go on and on. In the Caritas book “Words from Heaven, Messages of Our Lady from Medjugorje, the 7th edition,” it lists 26 main statements our Lady has told us about fasting including that “Fasting stops wars” and “Fasting can suspend the laws of nature”. [That’s a pretty powerful statement, isn’t it!]
In the Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence, A Statement Issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops , November 18, 1966. It explains:
“4. Of the many penitential seasons which at one time or another have entered the liturgical calendar of Christians (who on this point have preserved the holy tradition of their Hebrew spiritual ancestors), three have particularly survived to our times: Advent, Lent, and the vigils of certain feasts.”
17. “… We impose no fast before any feast-day, but we suggest that the devout will find greater Christian joy in the feasts of the liturgical calendar if they freely bind themselves, for their own motives and in their own spirit of piety, to prepare for each Church festival by a day of particular self-denial, penitential prayer and fasting.”
“18. Gratefully remembering this, Catholic peoples from time immemorial have set apart Friday for special penitential observance by which they gladly suffer with Christ that they may one day be glorified with Him. This is the heart of the tradition of abstinence from meat on Friday where that tradition has been observed in the holy Catholic Church.”
Each Friday becomes a sort of Lenten Good Friday observance for us as we look forward to Sunday Mass which is our weekly observance of the Resurrection and Easter. So, each Sunday we celebrate Easter and each Friday throughout the year we can celebrate Good Friday by doing some weekly observance of penance and fasting.
Our weekly—and for some, daily—celebration of the Eucharist also affords us the opportunity to fast before receiving the Lord. This small one hour Eucharistic fast disposes us to experience more deeply the coming of the Lord and expresses our seriousness and reverence for the Lord’s coming into our lives.
Remember the focus is prayer and growing closer to the Lord by the actions of your daily living. Fasting is not punishment but preparation for something better than that which you set aside. As most preparation for a great event, such as a wedding or a special celebration, it most likely will be work for you, even tedious at times. I have prepared for three weddings for my three daughters, and to make it special it took months of preparation.
But the preparation is to get ready for something joyous and special. The greater detail of the preparation carried out enhances the celebration. Fasting helps us get ready and thus have deeper and significant spiritual experiences as we encounter Christ, our Bridegroom.
Consider how fasting enters into our lives in our spiritual walk. Think about this: the act of fasting from physical relations by a couple before their marriage. That is a sort of a fast. When the fast is broken it causes disappointment. But when the sacrifice of fasting brings pureness to the marriage bed the union is then glorious. Fasting helps us to attain and to retain our pureness as we make ready to become one with the Lord! So the next time you do your fasting, your Eucharistic fast, think of it that way. Think of it as a way of getting ready for a great celebration, to be one with the Lord, to come in to be one with your Bridegroom. And as you fast, as I said in the very beginning, if you are in the doldrums and you just can’t focus on prayer, when you set aside those things you are spending most of your time on,–the Presidents said to set aside all secular work—but if you would at least set aside your most secular entertainment, set aside the watching of the movies, the Netflix, surfing the web, playing cards, whatever it is that is your enjoyment that seems to occupy a lot of your time. If you will fast from that, and as I said, pair it with the sacrament of Reconciliation, you will find that all of those doldrums will dissipate and you will find refreshment and a renewal and a fullness of the encounter with Christ.
Amen.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner. I invite you to subscribe and come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there is always more!
(The scriptures quoted above come from the NAB except where noted.)
References

“A Reflection On Lenten Fasting” Rev. Daniel Merz
Genesis. 2:16-17 “The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden 17 except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.”
Philippians 3: 18-19 “For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.”

Canon 1249 “The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.”

Can. 1250 “The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.”

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Acts 14: 21b-23 “they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Luke 2:36-38 “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Matthew 4: 1-4 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4″Man does not live by bread alone.”

Mark 6:12-13 “So they went out and preached that men should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.”

Mark 9:27-29 “And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” [NRSV-CE]

Acts 9:8-9 “Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” RSV-CE.

livethefast.org [Note: This website is no longer available]
• Fasting opens up our hearts to conversion
• Fasting gives weight to our prayer intentions
• Fasting strengthens us in resisting temptations
• Fasting and prayer promote peace in our hearts and peace with one another
• Fasting teaches us the difference between “wanting” and “needing”
• Fasting reminds us of the plight of the poor and for many in the world who are perpetually hungry
• Fasting and prayer can free us from addictive behavior
• “Fasting will lead us to a new freedom of heart and mind.” — Fr. Slavko Barbaric O.F.M
• Fasting invites the Holy Spirit in to heal our hearts, our relationship with God and our relationship with others

“Words from Heaven, Messages of Our Lady from Medjugorje, the 7th edition,” lists 26 main statements our Lady has told us about fasting including that “Fasting stops wars” and “Fasting can suspend the laws of nature”.

Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence , A Statement Issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops November 18, 1966

Discussion Questions

1. The Church asks us to fast for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and an hour before receiving Holy Communion. Share another time that you have fasted.
2. What are some of the benefits of fasting?
3. If you were choosing to fast tomorrow, what one thing would be on your list other than food? Why?
4. Do you see fasting as punishment or preparation? Explain.
5. Comment on tonight’s talk.