On this first Friday of Lent we orient ourselves to the task at hand for the Holy Season: seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you. Accentuate the positive, then, to eliminate the negative. Do what is right and good to vanquish what is wrong and bad!
God, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah today, tells us to "fast – not by not-doing, but rather by doing." He does not want us to bow our heads like reeds and lie in sackcloth and ashes (while we are dealing uncharitably with others – for our own glorification and self-profit). What he wants is for us to "fast-by-doing" what is right and just: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed…then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: "Here I am!"
This is a God-given spiritual dynamic of the spiritual life: purifying ourselves by concentrating our efforts on the needs of others – because we have been instructed by God to do so, and God himself has demonstrated how to do it through the life and death of his Son, Jesus.
The gospel passage today mentions "fasting" – but this kind of spiritual discipline, Jesus tells those who inquire – is not for his disciples at that particular time – because he is with them, he is their teacher, he is showing them how to seek the good and reject the evil – how to live for others – and give their lives for them! The "giving-up" kind of fasting implied in this passage does not apply to the disciples of Jesus at that time. But later, they would fast in the new way – when he is gone from them physically – and they are responsible for doing all that "fasting-by-giving-oneself-on-behalf-of-others" implies! You and I are invited, now, this day, this Lent, to learn how to do this kind of fasting!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.
Today is you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.
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