Friday after Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 221
Reading 1
Isaiah 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?”
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!
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 51:3-4, 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.
Verse Before the Gospel
See Amos 5:14
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you.
Gospel
Matthew 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.”
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
The Transforming Power of Fasting
“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:15
Our appetites and fleshly desires can easily cloud our thinking and keep us from desiring only God and His holy will. Therefore, in order to curb one’s disordered appetites, it is useful to mortify them by acts of self-denial, such as fasting. But during Jesus’ public ministry, when He was daily with His disciples, it appears that self-denial was unnecessary for His disciples. One can only speculate that this was because Jesus was so intimately present to them every day that His divine presence sufficed to curb any and every disordered affection.
But the day did come when Jesus was taken away from them—first by His death, and then shortly after by His Ascension into Heaven. After the Ascension and Pentecost, Jesus’ relationship with His disciples changed. It was no longer a tangible and physical presence. It was no longer a daily dose of authoritative teaching and inspiring miracles that they saw. Instead, their relationship with our Lord began to take on a new dimension of conformity to Jesus’ Passion. The disciples were now being called to imitate our Lord by turning their eyes of faith to Him interiorly, and exteriorly acting as His instrument of sacrificial love. And for that reason, the disciples needed their passions and fleshly appetites under control. Hence, after Jesus’ Ascension and with the beginning of the disciples’ public ministry, they greatly benefitted from fasting and all other forms of mortification.
Each one of us is called to be not only a follower of Christ (a disciple) but also an instrument of Christ (an apostle). And if we are to fulfill these roles well, our disordered fleshly appetites cannot get in the way. We need to allow the Spirit of God to consume us and lead us in all that we do. Fasting and all other forms of mortification help us to stay focused upon the Spirit rather than upon our weaknesses and fleshly temptations.
Reflect, today, upon the importance of fasting and mortification of the flesh. These penitential acts are not usually desirable at first. But that’s the key. By doing that which our flesh does not “desire,” we strengthen our spirit to take greater control, which enables our Lord to use us and direct our actions more effectively. Commit yourself to this holy practice and you will be amazed at how transforming it will be.
Reflection 2
One bread, One Body
FREE FAST FOOD
“Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly.” —Isaiah 58:5-6
Jesus promised that His disciples would fast after He ascended to the Father (Mt 9:15). The Lord also promised that, when we fast in the right way, we will receive a wonderful freedom in which those bound unjustly are released, the thongs of the yoke are untied, the oppressed are set free, and every yoke is broken (Is 58:6). This freedom due to fasting is a catalyst through which a whole series of miracles occurs.
In this Lent, “let us therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit” (The Gospel of Life, Pope St. John Paul II, 100). “Jesus Himself has shown us by His own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil (cf Mt 4:1-11). As He taught His disciples, some demons cannot be driven out except in this way (cf Mk 9:29)” (The Gospel of Life, 100).
To break down the walls of our “culture of death,” to escape from the prisons of our secular humanistic society, and to be freed from the evil one, the Lord calls us to fast. Make this the great Lent of fasting to free us from sin and free us for the abundant life in Christ.
Prayer: Father, free me from Satan and free me for a “civilization of love” (Pope St. Paul VI, Dec. 25, 1970).
Promise: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed.” —Is 58:8
Praise: Imitating the simple lifestyle of Jesus, Joseph sold his car and rode to work and church on a bicycle.
Reflection 3
The Servants of the Word
Fasting for the Kingdom of God
Are you hungry for God? 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).
Humble yourself before the Lord your God
To be in God's presence is pure delight and happiness. 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 affliction 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 the Lord, he will not disappoint us. His grace draws us to his throne of mercy and favor. Do you seek the Lord with confident trust and allow his Holy Spirit to transform your life with his power and grace?
Fast and hunger for more of God and his righteousness
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?
Prayers
My dear Lord, I thank You for choosing to use me as Your instrument. I thank You that I may be sent by You to share Your love with the world. Give me the grace to conform myself more fully to You by mortifying my disordered appetites and desires so that You and You alone can take complete control of my life. May I be open to the gift of fasting and may this penitential act help to transform my life. Jesus, I trust in 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." (Prayer of St. Augustine)
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 47: Recognizing the Needs of Others
Often times we can be so preoccupied with ourselves and our own problems that we fail to see the struggles and needs of those around us, especially those of our own family. At times, because we are so self-consumed, we run the risk of adding unnecessary burdens to those we are called to love and care for. We need to foster within our hearts true Christ-like empathy and compassion for each person we encounter (See Diary #117).
Do you see the needs of those in your life? Are you aware of their wounds and burdens? Do you sense when they are sad and overwhelmed? Do you add to their sorrow or do you seek to lift them up? Reflect, today, upon the great gift of an empathetic and compassionate heart. True Christian empathy is a human response of love for those all around us. It’s an act of Mercy we must foster so as to lighten the burden of those entrusted to our care.
Lord, help me to have a heart full of true empathy. Help me to sense the struggles and needs of others around me and to turn my eyes from myself to the needs that they carry. Lord, You are full of compassion. Help me also to be filled with compassion for all. Jesus, I trust in You.
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