Daily Catholic Lectio. Mon, 19 January ‘26. Fasting and Joy

Daily Catholic Lectio

Mon, 19 January ‘26

Second Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

1 Sam 15:16–23. Mk 2:18–22

Fasting and Joy

Hunger and joy are deeply connected. When the body is hungry, even the most joyful song falls silent; when hunger is satisfied, life returns, faces brighten, and joy flows again. Hunger reminds us of our fragility, our limits, and our dependence on others. It strips us of illusion and brings us back to what is essential. In this sense, hunger is not only physical; it is also existential. We hunger for meaning, for love, for belonging, for God.

Fasting is chosen hunger. It is not forced deprivation but a free decision. Across religions and cultures, fasting has been practised as a path to healing, discipline, and inner clarity. In the Bible, fasting is closely linked to repentance and conversion. On the Day of Atonement, Israel fasted as a sign of returning to God. But by the time of Jesus, fasting had often become a rigid religious marker. The Pharisees fasted regularly, yet their fasting was heavy, joyless, and self-defining. It separated them from others instead of opening them to God.

Against this background, Jesus responds with a striking image: a wedding feast. “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Where the bridegroom is present, joy is natural. Fasting makes sense when the bridegroom is taken away—an indirect reference to Jesus’ own suffering and death. Jesus does not reject fasting; he restores its meaning. Fasting is not an end in itself. It prepares the heart to recognise God’s presence and to rejoice when he is near. New wine requires new wineskins. A new relationship with God cannot be contained in old, rigid forms.

The first reading offers a sobering warning through the story of Saul. Saul disobeys God’s clear command but justifies himself by appealing to a religious intention: the spared animals, he says, were meant for sacrifice. Samuel’s response is sharp and timeless: obedience is better than sacrifice. Good ends do not justify wrong means. Religious acts lose their value when they are detached from listening, trust, and humility. Saul teaches us that God desires not clever excuses, but a listening heart.

Three lessons emerge for us today.

First, religious practices such as fasting, prayer, and almsgiving must never become empty rituals. When they lose joy and obedience, they lose their soul.

Second, what we deliberately “starve” loses power over us. When temptations are denied space, time, and attention, they slowly fade. Fasting trains our freedom.

Third, joy is the sign of God’s presence. The word enthusiasm literally means “being in God.” When Christ is truly with us, even discipline carries lightness, and sacrifice carries hope.

True fasting leads not to sadness, but to joy. It sharpens our hunger for God and opens us to his presence. Where the Bridegroom is welcomed, hunger becomes meaningful—and joy becomes complete.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy