Feb. 17, 2010: Fasting

"In my fast, make me an empty bowl - that you may fill the hallow space in me with love." - a portion of "In My Prayer" by Attique Swati of Pakistan from the book Prayer Without Borders, page 32, published by Catholic Relief Services in 2004.

I just got back from my JustFaith group at Immaculate Conception parish in downtown Albuquerque. In the session we talked about Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) and what they do as an organization. We also read a part of Pope Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). Appropriately, on Ash Wednesday, one of the main themes for this evenings JustFaith was world hunger. How can my "empty bowl" be filled with God's love?

Those who have recently met me would never know that I actually was one hundred pounds heavier about seven years ago. I was gluttonous when it came to food. I ate to feel loved. Food was my constant comfort. When I was in graduate school something clicked in my heart. Why was I allowing food to fill my heart? How could I, a person so passionate about justice, consume more than my fair share when others go hungry every day? How could I let food take the place of God in my heart? Thank goodness God blessed me with the revelation that food cannot love me the way God can love me. To love God was to respect and to take care of what God has blessed me with. Seven years go to let go of my obsession with food was to literally empty my bowl so that I could allow God into my life in a deeper way.

Lent is a time of conversion. A time where we allow God to work in our lives so that we can become closer to whom Christ created us to be. To allow ourselves to convert we must let go of something in our lives that is "sinful". We must let go of something in order to convert our lives towards becoming more Christ-like. One of the three pillars of Lent is fasting(fasting, prayer, almsgiving). We fast so to change our behavior. Fasting can aid us in prayer. The pangs of hunger can makes us more acutely aware of our hunger for God. It also makes us more aware of people who go without food and who live in poverty. It links us to our Baptismal call to show and share the love of God with others in our world who are suffering. Fasting should move us towards alleviating the suffering of others.

Jesus, before he entered into his public ministry, fasted in the dessert for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-2). During this time Jesus was preparing Himself for the journey ahead, relying solely on God to sustain Him. During this season of Lent how are you allowing God to solely sustain you? How are you allowing your fast to fill you with the love of God?