Charles Murphy, in his book, the Spirituality of Fasting, lamented and I don’t blame him (about the elephant in the Catholic tradition) that is, fasting being a long-lost tradition. He recalled St. John Paul II’s query when both met at the Vatican, what happened to fasting. It’s still inscribed in the books but it faded because we dropped it. It’s seldom heard from the pulpit nowadays. The faithful desire to learn and are willing to follow the ancient practice but my observation tells me that many are tired of simply dumping the law to them without proper and solid catechesis. Only a handful observe it. In order for this tradition to be recovered in style, strong emphasis needs to be placed on the spirit of the law that is, the layers of meaning behind it much more than the law itself.

Isaiah hits the nail about fasting which is apart from our normal practices. He is strikingly correct. Real fasting is not so much about giving up chocolate, cutting TV time and social media, and refraining from excessive shopping, drinking and the likes but it's going straight to the heart of the tradition, that is, the heart itself leading us to God. Isaiah is not pleased with our manner of fasting of engaging in fighting and quarreling over petty things and nitty gritty. Real fasting is about liberating the oppressed, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, spending time with the mentally challenged, and helping the troubled in whatever way we can. I happened to ask a parishioner how come he devoted so much of his time building homes for the homeless. He replied, I was once homeless, Father. I lived in the streets for a long time and ate garbage. I know exactly what it means to be in that distressing circumstance. Amen.