Reflection after Meditative Reading of Today's WORD of God for FRIDAY after ASH WEDNESDAY

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar

 Gospel Reading 

 Matthew 9: 14 -15 

When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast

John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.’

Reflections for the readings of the day 

Many People Felt Angry when Isaiah Accused Them of Being Rebels Against GOD. They Saw Themselves as Devout, Zealous in Religious Practice. But the Prophet Pointed Out that even while They Fasted for Religious Purposes, They had Not Qualms about Oppressing Their Workers. In which Case, the Religion They Practiced was Not Really to Please GOD, but to Please Themselves. 

Their Ritual Observance has become Merely a Traditional Activity, Something They are Doing for Themselves. Even on the Days when They Fast, They End Up Arguing & Fighting, Self-Righteous & Disunited. 

Today, We too can Fall into This

 Syndrome, Putting Questions of Ritual, Etiquette & Procedure on a Higher Pedestal than They Deserve, while Leaving the Substance of Charity on the Back Burner.

Many Seem to Limit the ideal of “Walking-With-GOD” to Something that is Fulfilled in a One-Day-a-Week Commitment, by Attending Church.

We Become so Wrapped Up in Our Own Concerns, that there is Hardly Time for Conversing with GOD Our Maker. 

But Helped by the Words of Prophet Isaiah, Perhaps We can See more Clearly the Penance that GOD Offers Us as a Special Blessing, in the Blessed Season of Lent. 

The Fast that GOD Prescribes for Us is to Find the Time to Clothe the Naked, to Right Injustices, to Feed the Hungry, & to Make Provision for Those who have No house. 

We Normally Link the Idea of “Fasting” with Food. To Fast is to Abstain from Certain Foods for a Period of Time. 

But in the 1st Reading Isaiah Defines Fasting More Broadly. He Understands It as Leaving Aside All Those Ways of Relating to People that Damage & Oppress Them & Replacing such Ways of Relating with Working for Justice on Behalf of Those in Greatest Need. 

Isaiah Seems to be Saying that Fasting can Never Be Separated from that Other Jewish Practice that We Associate with Lent, Almsgiving, the Sharing of Our Resources with Others.

Lent Proposes the 3 Great Disciplines of Prayer, Fasting & Almsgiving. 

They are 3 Expressions of One Way of Life. We Cannot just Choose One while Neglecting the Other 2. Fasting is Saying “No” to Something. 

Isaiah Reminds Us that such Saying “No” is Always with a View to Saying “Yes,” a “Yes” that Finds Expression in Greater Service of Our Neighbour. 

Such Service of Others makes Our Prayer More Acceptable to GOD. In the Words of Our 1st Reading, “Cry, & the LORD will Answer; Call & HE will Say, “I am Here”.


Good Morning

God bless you

Have a lovely day