On Fasting (what makes it worth something...)

POST FROM A FRIEND:


Not to knock physical penance, as i am sure that that has its time and place. But just a reminder that there is more to Lent than giving up chocolate. A Challenge? Yes. Easy? No. Worth it? Most def.


Isaiah 53:

2 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! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.
...
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD'S holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice--
Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.



RESPONSE:

I think that this reinforces the idea of the tripod. Certainly fasting and abstinence from certain foods is worthless when not done in conjunction with prayer and almsgiving.

The question is - why do we fast? Penance is well and good, but there are other ways in which fasting brings us closer to God. Personally, I have a few reasons. Everything in life, especially food, comes relatively easily to me, and I take my eating habits for granted. Fasting reminds me that I can do without. Fasting for me includes not just the dietary restrictions, but, for example, no unnecessary shopping as well. Another reason is that by depriving oneself, and by struggling a little, we are forced to rely more heavily than usual on God, or rather, we are reminded that we rely on Him 100%.

I don't know if you read the Pope's Lenten Address for this year, but I think your post is fitting. He concentrated on the almsgiving aspect of Lent. In a literal sense, fasting allows us to free up some money to give towards helping the poor and increased prayer can also include increased prayer for others.

PS some more on Biblical fasting and how it can bring us closer to the Lord: http://www.new-life.net/fasting.htm