Lenten Fasting as Spiritual Medicine

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The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022026.cfm

Father Tyler Mentzer, MIC, invites us to confront this penetrating question, “What are you hungry for?” On the first Friday of Lent, this inquiry becomes a mirror for our own souls, urging us to examine the cravings that dominate our hearts.

The Gospel’s wedding feast imagery frames fasting, not as a punitive rite, but as a preparation for the ultimate celebration of the divine Bridegroom. Jesus asks, “Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” (Mk 2:19; NABRE). When the Bridegroom remains present, the feast of love outweighs the austerity of fasting. Yet He also foretells the inevitable departure of the Bridegroom, announcing that “then they will fast” (Mk 2:20; NABRE). This duality reveals fasting as medicinal: a temporary giving up of earthly food that readies us for the future sorrow of the Passion and the ensuing joy of the Resurrection.

The “Catechism” teaches that “fasting is a penance that draws us closer to Christ, the source of true nourishment” (“CCC,” 2043). By denying ourselves food, drink, or sinful habits, we create interior space for the Spirit, allowing the hunger for God’s will to replace the hunger for fleeting pleasures. As Fr. Tyler notes, the Lenten season is a “time of intentional communion with the suffering Christ,” echoing the ancient Jewish practice of fasting on the Day of Atonement (see Lev 16) and its fulfillment in the New Covenant.

Saints Jacinta and Francisco of Fatima exemplify this sacrificial love. Even as children, they offered their meals to the poor, endured bitter suffering, and embraced fasting as a conduit for the conversion of sinners. Their witness reminds us that fasting, when rooted in love for the Bridegroom, transforms personal deprivation into communal charity.

Thus, the Lenten call is threefold:
- Identify the hidden cravings that enslave us — power, pleasure, control, or even the illusion of self‑sufficiency.
- Rebuke those cravings through disciplined fasting — whether by abstaining from meat on Fridays, limiting meals, or refraining from harmful thoughts and words.
- Redirect the resulting emptiness toward the love of Christ, the true Bridegroom who satisfies every longing (see Jn 6:35; NABRE).

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