Fasting

Last post I mentioned that we'd be jumping around a little. This post I'm skipping Jesus' discussion on Prayer in Matthew 6, and going for His blurb on Fasting. Next post, I'll jump back to prayer.

Matthew 6:16-18

'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.'

Jesus here is saying the same thing about fasting as He does about almsgiving: namely, don't show off about it. Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline, but if we are doing it for the wrong reasons, the numerous benefits that we would otherwise achieve are nullified, and all that will come from it is that people will think you're super-spiritual (that is, if they don't see right through the act and think you're just a dork).

Fasting is an act of repentance--of making a sacrifice in order to draw closer to God. Now, for it to be a real sacrifice, you have to give up something good, something that is on the one hand, not wrong (you can't "fast" from sin--you should be giving that up, anyway!), and on the other hand, it has to be something that you like (fasting from Pepsi, for me, definitely wouldn't count. Neither would turnips, squash, or brussel sprouts! For you all, I'll say it here, definitively: Giving up homework does not count!). When we give something good up, we are recognising that as good as something is, there is something infinitely better--and we seek that good, Who is God. For example, the traditional fast is from food, and when we give up a meal, or several meals, we are saying that as good and as necessary as food is to our lives, God is infinitely better, and more necessary.

But giving something up (be it food, or television, or videogames) isn't the end of the story. When we give something up, we have to replace it with something. If we're giving up a good thing in order to gain a better One, then we actually have to be seeking that better One in our fast! When we feel the cravings for what we have given up, it is a reminder to seek out Jesus in prayer. When we are tempted to selfishly quit early, it is a reminder to selflessly help meet the needs of others. We have to actively seek God in our fast, otherwise there is no point. If our fast does not change our hearts to desire more of God, then honestly, we've just wasted our time.

Centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah made the same point, in the 58th passage of his book. When the Israelite people fasted without actually trying to love God or help others, they whined in frustration, "'Why have we fasted, if You do not see, why mortify ourselves if You never notice?'" (v. 3a). In reply, God, speaking through His prophet, says this:

Look, you seek your own pleasure on your fastdays
And you exploit all your workmen;
Look, the only purpose of your fasting is to quarrel and squabble
And strike viciously with your fist.
Fasting like yours today
Will never make your voice heard on high.
Is that the sort of fast that pleases Me,
A day when a person inflicts pain on himself?
Hanging your head like a reed,
Spreading out sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call fasting,
A day acceptable to Yahweh?
Is not this the sort of fast that pleases Me:
To break unjust fetters,
To undo the thongs of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to break all yokes?
Is it not sharing your food with the hungry,
And sheltering the homeless poor;
If you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him,
And not to turn away from your own kin?
Then your light will blaze out like the dawn
And your wound be quickly healed over.
Saving justice will go ahead of you
And Yahweh's glory come behind you. (Is. 58:3b-8)

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is the Church's primary season of penitence as we prepare to celebrate the Passion and Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord! Let us make this season a true fast, keeping in mind the Lord's words from Isaiah, and let us seek Him with all of our hearts.

Our Youth Ministry has been invited to participate in a wonderful outreach, in order to practice almsgiving on a dynamically large scale, by participating in the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's program, "ThinkFast." The Chaplain at St. Ignatius of Loyola has invited us to join them as they do it from 3 pm March 3 to 3 pm March 4. If you don't know what ThinkFast is, it's raising money for D&P, so that they can send it to help countries that are afflicted with starvation, lack of clean water, or other injustices, so that permanent social change can be implemented. At the same time, we'll be fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with those who are starving for much, much longer periods. More, ThinkFast involves fun, learning, and worship throughout the night, and will end with a multicultural potluck on Saturday, which will last until 4. If you want to participate, please let me know! You'll need to raise at least $40.

That same Saturday, we'll be watching The Passion of the Christ here at the Church. Each Friday night of Lent, at 7, we'll be discussing it, as well as praying the Stations of the Cross. Feel free to join us!

God bless
Gregory

Almsgiving

For the beginning of chapter 6, I thought I'd jump around a bit. The beginning of Matthew 6 is the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading, so it's fitting that we approach the three topics of chapter 6: Almsgiving, Fasting, and Prayer, as we prepare to celebrate the season of Lent, in which the Church stresses greater spiritual devotion and good works, a time of getting right with God. Hopefully, then, really understanding these topics will help Lent to have a more dynamic impact on us. This post we'll talk about Almsgiving. We'll skip over to Fasting in the next one, and conclude with Prayer just as Lent begins.

Matthew 6:1-4, 19-20

'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be in secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you...

'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be too.'

When Jesus taught us about being Salt and Light, He was telling us to boldly live out our faith and be an example to the world. Now, however, He seems to be reversing that idea, and telling us to do our good works in secret. It seems somewhat contradictory, so what is Jesus really saying?

Jesus is not contradicting Himself, and He does want us to be obvious in our faith-life. But here, Jesus is not talking about that. Rather, He is talking about hypocricy. Like His discussion of the Deeper Law at the end of Chapter 5, Jesus is teaching us about our motives. In fact, the beginning of Chapter 6 is really the continuation to the discussion of chapter 5. When Jesus began talking about living out the Law, His examples were all of a negative variety: Don't murder; Don't commit adultery, etc. However, in chapter 6, Jesus now turns His attention to the positive requirements of the Law, or the Do's. But His point remains the same. The religious people of His time all knew the importance of giving alms, fasting, and prayer. It was so important, in fact, that the "really religious" would actually show off their good works, in order that people would laud them and they'd come off looking pretty darn terrific. Condemning this activity, Jesus claims that human acclamation is all the reward that these people will ever get for their "good works," and that all the spiritual benefit that should come from giving to the poor is nullified.

When Jesus tells us that we should give to the poor "in secret", He is not suggesting that we go out in the dead of night, cloak-and-dagger, in order to give. Rather, He is saying to us that when we give, when we meet the needs of others, we should just do it because they need help, we can help, and God wants us to help. That's all there is to it. It's not about who sees or who doesn't see. It's about how much or how little we care that people see. It's about being obvious, not pretentious. And He promises that God will reward those who honour Him this way. How? Verses 19-21 have the key. It is in almsgiving that we understand that our treasure is not here, but we lay up treasure in Heaven. Jesus here is alluding to Tobit 4:4-11:

'My child, be faithful to the Lord all your days. Never entertain the will to sin or to transgress His laws. Do good works all the days of your life, never follow ways that are not upright; for if you act in truthfulness, you will be successful in all your actions, as everyone is who practises what is upright.
'Set aside part of your goods for almsgiving. Never turn your face from the poor and God will never turn His from you. Measure your alms by what you have; if you have much, give more; if you have little, do not be afraid to give less in alms. So doing, you will lay up for yourself a great treasure for the day of necessity. For almsgiving delivers from death and saves people from passing down to darkness. Almsgiving is a most effective offering for all those who do it in the presence of the Most High.'

A great example of one who lived out the unity of being obvious and humble about her faith is Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta--a woman who gave up everything in order to minister to those most in need in India. Someone who gives up everything like that is bound to attract attention, and she did. But she didn't seek it. In fact, more often than not, she avoided it. She didn't serve the poor in order to win the Nobel Peace Prize (though they gave it to her), but because these people needed someone to love them--and in their faces, she saw the Face of Christ. When people tried to give glory to her, she deflected it to Jesus Christ.

That's precisely what Jesus is talking about in Matthew chapter 6.

Our Youth Ministry has been invited to participate in a wonderful outreach, in order to practice almsgiving on a dynamically large scale, by participating in the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's program, "ThinkFast." The Chaplain at St. Ignatius of Loyola has invited us to join them as they do it from 3 pm March 3 to 3 pm March 4. If you don't know what ThinkFast is, it's raising money for D&P, so that they can send it to help countries that are afflicted with starvation, lack of clean water, or other injustices, so that permanent social change can be implemented. At the same time, we'll be fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with those who are starving for much, much longer periods. More, ThinkFast involves fun, learning, and worship throughout the night, and will end with a multicultural potluck on Saturday.

If you want to participate, please let me know!

God bless!

A Deeper Law

Back to the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:17-48

'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. Therefore anyone who infringes even one of hte least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven.

'For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven.

'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown in prison. In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

'You have heard how it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say this to you, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body go to hell.

'It has also been said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But I say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of an illicit marriage, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

'Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne; or by earth, since that is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your own head, either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need to say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.

'You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles to as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.'

A long passage. A hard passage. One that many seem to misunderstand, I think. What is Jesus saying here?

Jesus starts off by affirming the Law that God had given to men in the Old Testament. Jesus did not come to get rid of it, but to "complete" it. What's that mean? It means that Jesus lived the Law perfectly, the way God intended. His whole life, and His death and resurrection, fulfilled all that was required! And the best part is, He did it for us!

Now here's where things get a bit tricky. There are people out there who believe that Jesus' fulfilling the Law means that that Law therefore doesn't apply to us, because we are in Christ Jesus. This view historically was known as "antinomianism" which means, basically, literally, "against the law-ism". Reading through what Jesus said above, it should be plain that antinomianism is not true, but in fact, just the opposite. But nonetheless, this viewpoint still exists within Christian circles. Only, they changed the name from the rather negative-sounding "against the law-ism" to the more spiritual sounding "Faith Alone."

But right after Jesus says, "I have not come to abolish the Law, but to complete it" (v. 17), He says two things more: First, "Whoever keeps these commandments and teaches them will be called greatest in the kingdom of Heaven," (v. 19) and second, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven" (v. 20)! Jesus very clearly points out that He expects us to live up to the standard of the Law--in fact, He goes on, and raises the bar! The next section quoted above has Jesus saying, "The Law says this, but I say, that's not good enough!" Don't murder? Darn right! Guess what: Getting angry with your brother--same thing. Don't commit adultery? Absolutely not! Guess what: lusting after someone that you aren't married to, whether they're real, or imaginary, or porn--yeah, that's adultery! On and on Jesus goes, reinterpreting the commandments, and raising the bar! I won't comment on every part, because the wonderful thing about Jesus is, He's incredibly straightforward about this!

After telling us just what is necessary to enter the kingdom of Heaven (v. 20), He concludes with these startling, sobering words: "You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (v. 48). This is the point. This is the meaning. This is the requirement.

But can any of us truly be perfect? No, not on our own. That is why Jesus came: not simply to teach us the Law, but to enable us to fulfil it. Through His own life of perfect obedience to the Father, through His sacrificial Death and Resurrection, Jesus completely fulfilled the Law, paid for the sins against the Law that we have committed, and rose again to give us His Spirit. Through the graces given through His Spirit, He makes us able to live a truly upright life. We are not instantly made perfect, but throughout our lives, we are being perfected more and more, through the Spirit within us and the Sacraments whereby we receive ever greater Grace.

Through Jesus living within us, we can do the impossible, and live for Him. On our own, it is impossible, but "there is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me" (Philippians 3:13).

God bless.