Today's short extract from the gospel of Matthew 9:14-15 has people condemning Jesus' disciples because they were not fasting. Jesus retaliates by explaining how stupid it is to give up food if it makes you a worse person. It is much better to give up the parts of our personality that offend others.
People have commented that some of my posts are sounding angry & bitter. Some people express this reason for "unfriending" me on Facebook.
(Which worked against a certain friend because when I wanted to refer her business to another person, to my surprise her name had disappeared from my friends list! Bad luck for her as she missed out on some very easy money!)
But even Jesus' hearers thought He sounded judgmental as He condemned their dishonest motives or religious performance.
Sometimes you just have to tell it as it is.
The truth is Jesus made people feel guilty that they were not what they made people think they were. Jesus condemned the hypocrites (which literally means "those who wear masks") In fact it means an actor, as in those days before make-up the actors wore masks, hence the symbol for acting is two masks, the origin of the expression to be two-faced).
Jesus doesn't want His followers to be two-faced but instead authentic witnesses, hungering for justice.
Hungering for God and fasting for His kingdom go hand in hand. When asked why He and His disciples did not fast Jesus used the vivid picture of a wedding celebration.
In Jesus' time the newly wed celebrated their honeymoon at home for a whole week with all the guests!
This was a time of great feasting and celebrating.
Jesus points to himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bridegroom's friends. He alludes to the fact that God takes delight in His people as a groom delights in his bride (Isaiah 62:5).
To be in God's presence is pure delight and happiness (as I feel sitting in the church typing this). But Jesus also reminds His followers that there is a time for fasting and for humbling oneself in preparation for the coming of God's kingdom and for the return of the Messianic King.
The Lord's disciples must also bear the cross of human rejection and purification.
For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating His goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility fasting, and mourning for sin. If we hunger for our Lord, He will not disappoint us. His grace draws us to his throne of mercy and favor.
Do you seek our Lord with confident trust and allow His Holy Spirit to transform your life with His power and grace?
What kind of fasting is pleasing to God? Fasting can be done for a variety of reasons: to gain freedom from some bad habit, addiction, or vice, to share in the suffering of those who go without, or to grow in our hunger for God and for the things of heaven.
Basil the Great wrote: "Take heed that you do not make fasting to consists only in abstinence from meats.True fasting is to refrain from vice. Shred to pieces all your unjust contracts. Pardon your neighbors. Forgive them their trespasses".
Do you hunger to know God more, to grow in His holiness, and to live the abundant life of grace he offers you?
"Come Lord, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you." (Prayerof St. Augustine)The following reflection is courtesy of Presentation Ministries (c) 2013. Their website is located at presentationministries.com
FAST IMPRESSIONS
"Your disciples do not fast". Matthew 9:14
Jesus said that when we fast, we should freshen up so no one can see we are fasting (Mt 6:17-18). He meant that we should fast so as to please God, not man. In one sense, however, people should be able to tell we are fasting no matter how nice our complexion is. Fasting causes drastic changes which are visible to those around us. Fasting, along with prayer, is the most effective weapon to bring down the strongholds of the evil one (Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II, 100). Fasting sets free the oppressed, the captive, the depressed, the addicted, and the homeless (Is 58:6-7). Our fasting from food causes more of our money to be available to feed and clothe the hungry and poor (Is 58:7). Immovable, mountainous problems are overcome by fasting and prayer (Mt 17:21). Fasting is accompanied by humility, selflessness, and a lack of strife with those around us (Is 58:3-4). In summary, true fasting pierces the clouds and causes our prayers to be heard and answered by God (Is 58:4).
True fasting brings undeniable results. Judge your own fasting by the above Scriptural results of true fasting. Are you fasting in such a way that your world is changing? Could others tell you are fasting simply by observing the life-changing and world-changing power emanating from your life?
Prayer: Father, pour out Your love in our hearts (Rm 5:5) so that we will desire to fast as You wish (Is 58:6) and so change the world.
Promise: "Your vindication shall go before you." Isaiah 58:8
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ReplyDeleteOuch! Ouch! Ouch! I am sorry to know that the people who tend to read my blog are more interested in attacking me than hearing my views which makes me & you look a little like King Herod whom John the Baptist condemned but he still liked to listen to him. OK, I accept as the other writer Smithson, I think his name was (the man who has not found a life partner but is not a priest or cleric and still professes to be celibate) said, he knows many celibate priests. I ask him, "How does he know they are celibate?" I thought most of them were too until they confessed their sexually deprived actions (I didn't tell you their names so I did NOT break the seal of confession you ignoramus) and removed my illusion that there are many, many celibate priests! There are certainly not. The majority as my book will reveal are playing the game! Pretense of virtue is a very human thing and I am sure that you too Alisha put on your makeup and pretend you are prettier than you are. That's a lie too. Wearing perfume is a lie. All that humans do to make themselves, look, smell, sound or appear better than they are is a lie. But its OK, everyone does it. So my assumption (and in fact I was informed of this by several clerics in confession) God knows we are sexual beings, he made us for it, so its ok to be sexually intimate and still confess to be clergy living our lives 24/7 for God because we are serving Him and making His Eucharistic Presence available.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to burst the bubble for many dedicated Catholics but you just have no idea what you are saying if you believe that most priests are good and holy. Do you live with them 24/7 to see their private lives? Does the Bishop? Do you live with your Bishop? Do you know what he gets up to in private? Didn't you hear about the Parish Priest of Liverpool who was caught abusing himself on a chat site in front of whom he believed to be a sixteen year old girl? He was a chaplain for the Marian Movement! He had adoration in his parish every Friday and he led devotions to Mary and was involved in the Schoenstatt Movement regularly running retreats for nuns! He was a holy priest! Is he unique? No, he was the only one who got caught! But he is not Father Robinson Crusoe.
Sorry if you take my comments as judgemental Alisha and Mr Smithson, but I am like the boy who told you there is no Santa Claus. You dont want to believe it.. but its true. Refusing to believe me and calling me names doesn't strengthen the illusion. Just because no one believes in them, doesnt mean the devil or God is not true..
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ReplyDeleteDear Alisha D, you must be either a nun, an Opus Dei member, or a homeschooling mother of seven.. you have so much time on your hands to read my blogs and write your literary assaults against me. I know Mr Smithson (surely its a pseudonym as most of my adversaries are inherently cowardly - not an ad hominem argument, merely an observation) but he is a man who lacks a sexual partnership and as such feels quite inadequate and attaches himself to the church for its certainty, emotional security and psychological comfort that it supposedly offers. I don't owe anyone anything. My life was given me by God to serve Him as I choose (as you have a similar choice). For a time I chose to serve as a celibate priest (giving a good majority of my life to that preoccupation). Now I am no longer feeling called to that lifestyle mostly because I was ashamed of the fools I worked alongside of. I saw most priests as immature, emasculated, effeminates who didn't actually choose priesthood - their parents chose it for them.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any favorite spiritual books? Have you read the Story of a Soul? or the Interior Castle?
ReplyDeleteYes I have read both books. I love Teresa of Avila's books and had the supreme honour of visiting her convent in Avila and praying at her grave & the graves of her parents and felt very close to her. So much so that reading her writings became more meaningful. Understanding an author helps you to feel what they mean when they write.. But the best spiritual book I have read is The Sign of Jonas by Thomas Merton. There is another favourite of mine, Self Abandonment to Divine Providence.. have you read?
DeleteI have. Im currently reading True Devotion and also the Cure of Ars. I plan on going to Avila's convent. I find Teresa's writing the best and so inspirational. Have you ever heard of Bishop Fulton Sheen?
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ReplyDeleteDear Doctor, I am sorry if i have been unkind to you. I admire Doctors, nurses and all who work in health care so that earns you the right to criticise me.. You are obviously committed to your faith and put that into action in your caring for others. I don't care how much doctors get paid it would never adequately compensate for the personal sacrifices you make to help the suffering. And Jesus knows we need more people to care for the dying so the fact that you are a palliative care physician raises your credibility in my estimation. Anyway, I apologise if you found any of my comments demeaning or dismissive. You have some valid points but using generalisations like calling me a straw man does not negate any of mine. I do know more about the fraudulent care dispensed by many priests than you as you know more than I about the con-men and impostors who pretend to care about their patients but are simply waiting to get their hands on their medicare cards.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you Dr Alisha