The Bridegroom is INDEED still with us. In the real presence of the Eucharist, in the celebration of word and sacrament, where two or three are gathered in his name. Jesus told his disciples not to fast as long as he is with them, so are we supposed to fast or not?
The reality of Lent and lenten fasting isn't that Jesus is not with us, but that we are not always with HIM. We fast, not because he has left us, but that we have so often, voluntarily, through our sins, left him.
Fasting is one of those means by which we begin to hunger for Him again. Through fasting we recognize that the things in this world are not what make us full and satisfy us, but that only God can do that. And so we fast, in order to stoke up our hunger and thirst for God, for righteousness, for faithfulness.
We certainly fast this Lent by cutting down on the unnecessary worldly activities: limiting the television, limiting the desserts, limiting the snacking. Perhaps a few days this Lent to fast on bread and water. We fast that we may hunger for what truly fills us, lest we become satisfied with the things of the world.
Healthy fasting should always lead us to the other two lenten disciplines of prayer and almsgiving.
Listen again to what Isaiah had to say about fasting today: his, rather, is the fasting, that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the throngs 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.”
Our fasting helps us come to Jesus more closely in prayer, that we might go out to the world with Him in charity. May our Lenten fasting help us hunger and thirst more deeply for doing God's Holy Will, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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