A Daily Lent

Friday after Ash Wednesday Daily Reading : Matthew 9:14 – 15 Focus Passage : Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” (Matt. 9:14 – 15) Don’t get lost in over-analysis of the passage. For a moment, simply hear Jesus say, “There is a time to fast and a time not to fast.” Let me explain why I think these words are important. Spiritual practices help us sustain a spiritual life. We do not come into a deep and life-giving connection to God by accident, as if we were a pinball that bounced randomly from place to place, and finally happened to hit the right bell. We set our intention on God. Spiritual practices are part of that intentional life. Fasting is a cornerstone spiritual practice. It involves saying “n...

Saturday after Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2015 ABBA SILVANUS AND HIS DISCIPLE ZACHARIAS visited a monastery. The monks invited them to share a small meal before they continued their journey. Departing, Zacharias saw a pond by the road and desired a drink of water. Silvanus reminded him that they were observing a fast that day. Zacharias protested, “But, Abba, we have already broken our fast today.” Silvanus replied, “We ate with them because we love them. Now that we are on our own, let’s keep our fast, my son.” [Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert , p. 220.] I understand the confusion Zacharias felt. We’re fasting today . . . now we’re not fasting today, but eating with the monks . . . I want a drink of water, but Abba Silvanus says I can’t drink because we’re fasting today . . . but what about the meal we just ate with those in the monastery? I’m a lot like Zacharias: If you tell me what the rules are, what is expected of me, I can usually operate within those para...

Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 20, 2015 ABBOT LOT came to Abbot Joseph and said: “Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and according as I am able I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: Now what more should I do?” The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said: “Why not be totally changed into fire?” [Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert , p. 50] There was an old cartoon from the 1980’s that showed a woman sitting at her desk in a church office. She had a bit of charring on her clothing, and smoke was present in the room around her. She tapped the button on the intercom system at her desk and said, “Pastor, there is a man here to see you. He says he’s on fire for the Lord.” The cartoon may have been especially meaningful to me because I saw it at a time in my life when I wanted always to be “on fi...

Thursday after Ash Wednesday, February 19, 2015 A BROTHER came to Abbot Pastor and said: “Many distracting thoughts come into my mind, and I am in danger because of them.” Then the elder thrust him out into the open air and said: “Open up the garments about your chest and catch the wind in them.” But he replied: “This I cannot do.” So the elder said to him: “If you cannot catch the wind, neither can you prevent distracting thoughts from coming into your head. Your job is to say ‘No’ to them.” [Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert , p. 43] Have you ever tried to fast from thoughts? Or even to fast from certain thoughts? It’s almost impossible at one level. To concentrate on blocking thoughts from coming into your mind is yet another thought. “Don’t think about the elephant . . . don’t think about the elephant . . . don’t think about the elephant.” And in trying to block the thought, you are thinking about the elephant. The wisdom of Abbot Pastor in the stor...

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015 TWO BROTHERS visited a hermit who made it a habit not to eat every day. The hermit welcomed them warmly, showing complete hospitality. Smiling, he said “Fasting has its own reward, but when love motivates you to eat, you keep two commandments. You lose your self-will and you refresh your brothers.” [Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert , p. 259.] The season of Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday. For these first days of Lent, we think about the spiritual practice of fasting. In solidarity with Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, many of us choose some type of fast for the season of Lent. Some of us fast a meal each week . . . some fast from a particular type of food or drink . . . some fast from a regular and normal activity (shopping, for instance, or reading news feeds, or watching television) . . . some seek to fast some attitude or interior posture (anger, for instance, or criticism, and so on). Whatever form our Lenten spir...

Sunday of the First Week of Lent Luke 4:1 – 13 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone.’” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concern...

Friday after Ash Wednesday Matthew 9:14 – 15 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Before this is a text about fasting, it makes a statement about living in comparison to others. Comparison seems to be such a routine part of human life that we don’t see anything wrong with it. Males are trained to think, “I’m a man, I was made to compete with others.” Or we believe, “How can I know how well I am doing if I don’t know what other people are doing?” We can’t seem to resist measuring our lives vis a vis the lives of people around us. We face that temptation everywhere, including in our spirituality. I was raised to compete, to win, to be better than others. I knew how well I was doing in life by how many people I c...

Ash Wednesday Matthew 6:1 – 6; 16 – 19; 21 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. . . . “And when you fast, don’t make it obvi...

Isaiah 58:6 - 8 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind." As a spiritual practice, fasting is about saying, "No," to one thing in order to say a larger, "Yes," to something else. For instance, we can say, "No," to food in order to let our hunger remind us of the more basic spiritual hunger that lives at the heart of us. We can say, "No," to speech and noise in order to pay deeper attention to God...

Matthew 6:1 - 6; 16 - 18 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." “When you fast,...

Luke 4:1 – 13 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it ...

Matthew 9:14 – 15 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Don’t get lost in over-analysis of the passage. For a moment, simply hear Jesus say, “There is a time to fast and a time not to fast.” Let me explain to you why I think these words are important. Spiritual practices help us sustain a spiritual life. We do not come into a deep and life-giving connection to God by accident, as if we were some pinball that bounced randomly from place to place and then finally happened to hit the right bell. We must set our intention on God. Spiritual practices often are part of that intentional life. Fasting is a cornerstone spiritual practice. It involves saying “no” to something that is a normal part of life in order to...