Maronite Voice - Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

“He Fasted for Forty Days and Forty Nights and Afterwards HeWas Hungry.”Message Of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI For Lent 2009On February 3, 2009, the 2009 Lenten Message of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI was madepublic. The text, dated December 11, 2008, has as its title “He Fasted for Forty Days and FortyNights, and Afterward He Was Hungry.” Following is the Pope’s Message as reported by Zenit.org.Dear Brothers and Sisters!At the beginning of Lent, whichconstitutes an itinerary of moreintense spiritual training, theLiturgy sets before us again threepenitential practices that are very dearto the biblical and Christian tradition --prayer, almsgiving, fasting -- to prepareus to better celebrate Easter and thusexperience God's power that, as weshall hear in the Paschal Vigil, "dispelsall evil, washes guilt away, restores lostinnocence, brings mourners joy, castsout hatred, brings us peace and humblesearthly pride." For this year's LentenMessage, I wish to focus my reflectionsespecially on the value and meaning offasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the fortydays of our Lord's fasting in the desert,which He undertook before enteringinto His public ministry. We read in theGospel: "Jesus was led up by the Spiritinto the wilderness to be tempted by thedevil. He fasted for forty days and fortynights, and afterwards he was hungry"(Mt 4:1-2). Like Moses, who fastedbefore receiving the tablets of the Law(cf. Ex 34:28) and Elijah's fast beforemeeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf.1 Kings 19:8), Jesus, too, throughprayer and fasting, prepared Himself forthe mission that lay before Him, markedat the start by a serious battle with thetempter.******We might wonder what value andmeaning there is for us Christians indepriving ourselves of something that initself is good and useful for our bodilysustenance. The Sacred Scriptures andthe entire Christian tradition teach thatfasting is a great help to avoid sin andall that leads to it. For this reason, thehistory of salvation is replete withoccasions that invite fasting. In the veryfirst pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lordcommands man to abstain frompartaking of the prohibited fruit: "Youmay freely eat of every tree of thegarden; but of the tree of the knowledgeof good and evil you shall not eat, for inthe day that you eat of it you shall die"(Gn 2: 16-17). Commenting on thedivine injunction, Saint Basil observesthat "fasting was ordained in Paradise,"and "the first commandment in thissense was delivered to Adam." He thusconcludes: "'You shall not eat' is a lawof fasting and abstinence" (cf. Sermo dejejunio: PG 31, 163, 98). Since all of usare weighed down by sin and itsconsequences, fasting is proposed to usas an instrument to restore friendshipwith God. Such was the case with Ezra,who, in preparation for the journeyfrom exile back to the Promised Land,calls upon the assembled people to fastso that "we might humble ourselvesbefore our God" (8:21). The Almightyheard their prayer and assured them ofHis favor and protection. In the sameway, the people of Nineveh, respondingto Jonah's call to repentance,proclaimed a fast, as a sign of theirsincerity, saying: "Who knows, Godmay yet repent and turn from his fierceanger, so that we perish not?" (3:9). Inthis instance, too, God saw their worksand spared them.******In the New Testament, Jesus bringsto light the profound motive forfasting, condemning the attitude of thePharisees, who scrupulously observedthe prescriptions of the law, but whosehearts were far from God. True fasting,as the divine Master repeats elsewhere,is rather to do the will of the HeavenlyFather, who "sees in secret, and willreward you" (Mt 6:18). He Himself setsthe example, answering Satan, at theend of the forty days spent in the desertthat "man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds fromthe mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). The truefast is thus directed to eating the "truefood," which is to do the Father's will(cf. Jn 4:34). If, therefore, Adamdisobeyed the Lord's command "of thetree of the knowledge of good and evilyou shall not eat," the believer, throughfasting, intends to submit himselfhumbly to God, trusting in Hisgoodness and mercy.******The practice of fasting is verypresent in the first Christiancommunity (cf. Acts 13:3; 14:22;27:21; 2 Cor 6:5). The Church Fathers,too, speak of the force of fasting tobridle sin, especially the lusts of the"old Adam," and open in the heart ofthe believer a path to God. Moreover,fasting is a practice that is encounteredfrequently and recommended by thesaints of every age. Saint PeterChrysologus writes: "Fasting is the soulof prayer, mercy is the lifeblood offasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast,show mercy; if you want your petitionto be heard, hear the petition of others.If you do not close your ear to others,you open God's ear to yourself" (Sermo43: PL 52, 320. 322).In our own day, fasting seems to havelost something of its spiritual meaning,and has taken on, in a culturecharacterized by the search for materialwell-being, a therapeutic value for thecare of one's body. Fasting certainlybrings benefits to physical well-being,but for believers, it is, in the first place,a "therapy" to heal all that preventsthem from conformity to the will ofGod. In the Apostolic ConstitutionPænitemini of 1966, the Servant of GodPaul VI saw the need to present fastingwithin the call of every Christian to "nolonger live for himself, but for Himwho loves him and gave himself forhim, he will also have to live for hisbrethren" (cf. Ch. I). Lent could be apropitious time to present again thenorms contained in the ApostolicConstitution, so that the authentic andperennial significance of this long heldpractice may be rediscovered, and thusassist us to mortify our egoism andThe Maronite Voice Volume V Issue No. III Page 10 March 2009