Fasting

By Fred Vilbig

If you read the Old Testament, there was a lot of fasting going on. Moses fasted. (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:9-18.) David fasted. (2 Sam 12:1-23.) Elijah the prophet fasted. (1 Kings 19:4-8.) Queen Esther fasted. (Esth. 4:15-17.) Daniel fasted. (Dan. 10:1-3.)

Jesus Himself fasted. At the beginning of His ministry, after leaving the sheltered world of Nazareth and before going out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and confront the powers of hell, Jesus went to the desert to pray, but also to fast. (Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-4.) As I mentioned earlier (in talking about Jesus in prayer), Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity did not need to pray or fast. However, when, he became man, he emptied Himself of his Divinity. (Phil. 2:7.) In that case, as fully human, before undertaking His ministry, He needed to fast and to set an example of fasting for us.
During Jesus’s life, He did not ask the Apostles to fast. (Matt. 9:14-17.) But after Jesus’ death, His followers began to fast. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul mentions his frequent fasts. (2 Cor. 11:27.)

Almost universally the Saints have encouraged us to fast. St. Francis of Assisi who is sometimes portrayed as a “flower child” fasted 40 days, seven times each year. Yes, the math works.

But you might ask why fast? In his Epistles, Paul uses the term “flesh” to refer to the world of sin. He says that “flesh” and spirit are at odds with one another. (Gal. 5:17.) In his letter to the Romans, Paul talks about how he does what he doesn’t want to do, but he doesn’t do what he wants to do. (Rom. 7:15.) He tells us that to overcome our tendency to sin (our concupiscence, to use St. Augustine’s term), we need to mortify our bodies. (Rom 8:13.) He himself said that he drove his body to train it lest he lose what he preached to others. (1 Cor. 9:27.)

St. Basil the Great lived in the fourth century. He encouraged all of his flock to fast (referring to it in the feminine):

“Fasting gives birth to the prophets, she strengthens the powerful. Fasting makes lawmakers wise. She’s a safeguard of the soul, a satisfying companion to the body, a weapon for the brave, a discipline for champions. Fasting knocks over temptations, anoints for godliness. She is a companion of sobriety, the crafter of a sound mind. In wars, she fights bravely. In peace, she teaches tranquility. She sanctifies the Nazirite, and she perfects the priest. (About Fasting, Sermon 1, section 6.)

So fasting is a powerful spiritual tool. In a way, it makes prayer physical. We as humans are composed of both a body and the soul (hence the resurrection of the body, too), and we should use our body in prayer through fasting. It strengthens us to resist temptation and to keep our eyes on God.

Fasting is a discipline that has to be developed gradually into a habit. We can start with abstaining from something like soda or coffee or sugar in our coffee, just something. Do it one or two days each week. After a while, take something else away. No, you probably won’t die. I would suggest fasting on Fridays to remember Our Lord’s Passion, but also because Canon 1250 of Canon Law says that all Fridays are penitential days.

As much as we may not like it, fasting, in fact, provides us with lots of benefits. It helps us to resist temptations, avoid sin, and focus on God. We don’t know how long we have on this earth, so there’s no time like the present. So don’t go slow; go fast!