Daily Catholic Lectio
Fri, 16 February 2024
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58:1-9a. Matthew 9:14-15
Why don’t they fast?
One word that unites both readings of the day is ‘fasting.’
Fasting is nothing but the hunger that we embrace on our own, by our own choice.
At times, hunger is imposed on us: when we are in poverty, when we travel a long distance, when we travel to a place where there is no restaurant, or when there is a loss of a loved one.
On a few occasions, hunger is prescribed to us: hunger before taking a certain medication or before going for a diagnosis.
‘Hunger’ is the basic or common feeling that unites us with every living being. When we feel hungry, all other labels disappear from us. Hunger is the warning message that our body gives us in order to keep our breath alive.
In the final analysis, fasting, the hunger that we choose on our own, makes us realise that we are dependent on others and, above all, on God. For, in fasting, we realise our ultimate dependence, helplessness, and vulnerability.
Fasting, in the long run, became a religious duty.
People forgot the reason for fasting, and they clung on to the action of fasting. Jesus condemns this ritualism that is attached to fasting. He outright says that fasting has no place when the groom is with the people. Fasting and the bridegroom are mutually exclusive.
When there is Jesus who gives life-giving bread, why fast? This is Jesus’ indirect proposition.
In the first reading, Prophet Isaiah condemns the people of Israel for reducing fasting to a religious duty and for forgetting their social and familial responsibilities. He tells them the real meaning of fasting.
Fasting, according to Isaiah, means sharing, alleviating poverty, clothing the naked, and giving hope to the hopeless.
The light of those who observe this fasting will shine like the dawn.
Today is the first Friday of Lent. May our fasting today make us realise our dependence on God and our responsibility for others.
‘Hope manifests itself as waiting and rejoicing. When we rejoice in the presence of the bridegroom, hope is kept alive.’ (cf. Jubilee A. D. 2025, bite 32)
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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