Friday - February 28, 2020
“Fasting
is most intimately connected with prayer. For the mind of one who is filled
with food and drink is so borne down as not to be able to raise itself to the
contemplation of God, or even to understand what prayer means.”
-Catechism
of the Council of Trent
TODAY'S READINGS
February 28 2020
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 221
Reading 1IS 58:1-9A
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
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;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
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;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Responsorial Psalm51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Verse Before The GospelAM 5:14
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you.
and the Lord will be with you.
GospelMT 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
******************************
How does fasting from meat change anything?
However, in our modern age when we have an abundance of tasty foods, meat is not the luxury food it used to be. The Church asks us to go meatless on Fridays for an important spiritual purpose. We would do well to enhance this ancient rule by fasting from any and all luxury foods. This is not the day to go out to a restaurant and order lobster!
The purpose of this is to stop catering to our likes and preferences, thus improving how well we turn outward toward others and their needs. Today's first reading reminds us that fasting is worthless if we're unkind to others and we focus only on ourselves: for example, if we're not releasing those bound by injustices, setting free the oppressed, sharing our bread with the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and doing good to our family and friends and fellow parishioners.
Fasting from luxury foods has no lasting value if it does not help us become more Christ-like to others.
Why do we forego meat on Fridays? If it's only out of duty, i.e. if we're only following the rules as dutiful Catholics, we miss the point and might as well eat steak. Either we're Christian for the sake of duty and obligation or we're a Christian of devotion. The dutiful Christian obeys God to the letter of the law. They go to Mass to save themselves from hell. This is a business relationship with God. Our part of the contract would be to obey God and his part of the contract would be to accept us into heaven. But that's self-focused. And it ignores that Jesus is the only true Savior and that salvation is a gift, which he freely and generously gives to everyone who truly wants it.
The devotional Christian obeys God because of a loving desire to serve him, which overflows to others.
Doing devotions (the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Stations of the Cross, etc.) doesn't make us devotional. True devotion is an exciting love affair with God in a way that benefits others. True devotion is a love so strong that we cannot look at a person who's suffering without wanting to help. It's a love so strong that even when others hurt us, we hurt for them because they have turned away from God, and if we can, we do something that gives them a dose of God's love.
To have this kind of devotion, we have to first know -- really know -- that God is devoted to us. To the extent that we fail to understand how wonderfully God loves us, that's how much we fail to love God, and to the extent that we fail to love God, that's how much we fail to love others.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me the simplicity and humility I need so my mind and my heart may firmly trust in You. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day
through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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