Back in the 90s and early 2000s, I began hearing about a new focus on Lent: Rather than giving up something, I’m going to do something.  This sounds good.  God doesn’t desire suffering and condemnation.  He would rather see more acts of kindness and goodness in the world, than worry over what people eat.  He has also said that He desires mercy, not sacrifice. So it would seem like wisdom that we have moved beyond the days when saints would put burning coals on their shoes (St. Kateri Tekakwitha) or place fish hooks in the inside of their belt (as many Carmelites did).  And yet, our Lord himself, who called disciples by saying, “Follow me.” began his ministry with 40 days of fasting and encouraged the disciples that some demons could not be driven away except by prayer and fasting.  We can also not forget that our hearts are tied to what we treasure.  Fasting is essential to the spiritual life.

There are three primary fruits of fasting: Advancement in the spiritual life; the rewards of sacrifice; the gift freedom. 

It is no accident that Jesus began His public ministry, the work and mission that His Father called him to complete through an act of fasting.  We read later that when the disciples were puzzled because he did not appear to eat physical food, he assured them that his food was to do the will of the Father.  When we do the will of the Father, which at times includes eating and drinking with tax collectors, we receive the nourishment that the soul needs.  By fasting, we make a willful choice and decision to follow first the needs of the spirit, and secondly, the needs of the body.  Through taking on acts of fasting we are literally saying that we desire to follow God’s plan for us over a worldly plan.  Even more, by fasting, we are actually taking the steps in advancing toward the spiritual life as it is spiritual rather than physical nourishment.

Fasting also gives us the rewards of sacrifice.  Sacrifice requires the giving up of something.  As good and necessary as acts of charity are, it is not a sacrifice.  Small fasts help to train us to do larger fasts, and thus larger sacrifices.  In making these sacrifices, we win benefits for others, whether it is a prayer for healing, or most especially conversion.

Lastly, fasting gives us freedom, it frees us from things that may bind us to sin and frees us to love and give more perfectly.  In a very practical way, fasting trains us to deny our physical impulses.  If I can fight off the temptation to eat ice cream, then I have a better chance of fighting off the temptation to watch a late night movie; if I can resist the passion of hunger, then I can better resist lashing out in anger.  We could also see that if I can skip a meal, then I have more time to give to my child or spouse; if I am no longer driven by food, then I become free to follow the will and desires of our Father.