LENT (Part 2): Fasting is not Dieting

“What are you giving up for Lent?” Probably a question I’ve heard dozens of times since my youth. Even if you're not Catholic, you've probably at least heard of Ash Wednesday (where Catholics receive ash crosses as a sign of repentance) and the personal fasts/penances people take on for Lent. But what you may not know is that:

1. Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation. In other words, it is not a required Mass.

2. Personal Lenten fasts/penances are not required.

Ash Wednesday Mass and taking on personal penances are important to Lent. But prayer and almsgiving are just as vital, if not more, to the season. In this post, I will outline how Lenten requirements and designs can lead us into deeper conversion. In other words, LET'S MAKE LENT HOLY AGAIN. (Ok you can hit me now.)

TRIPLE THREAT

The 3 traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The requirements of the Church for fasting are

1. Mandatory fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday only.

• Specifics: One full meal and two “penitential” meals (basically just snacks)

2. Abstinence from meat (fish doesn't count) on every Friday.

That’s all! You aren’t required to “give something up” for Lent. But while many Catholics still practice these Lenten penances, the Lenten emphasis on prayer and almsgiving has somewhat diminished among the average Catholic. (By the way, while we're clearing up misconceptions, this article nicely refutes the conspiracy that meatless Fridays were a deal between the pope and the fishing industry.)

But why do we fast?

PRAYER & FASTING

Fasting is a prayer of action. What does that mean? As Christians, we believe that if we suffer, we can unite those actions to Christ’s sufferings. Thus we both console him in his Passion and aid him in forgiving sins. So anytime we willingly sacrifice something, our actions can contribute to a prayer intention.

Fasting without prayer is dieting. The spiritual purpose of Lent isn't “self-improvement” (although that can be an effect). Rather, it is self-denial, and denying things of the world to turn more towards God. A secondary reason to fast is to dedicate the additional time we’d spend on those things in prayer. For example, if you do give up social media, then spending the hour you would spend on Instagram in prayer.

Other common prayer practices during Lent:

• The Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross): meditative commemoration of fourteen points of Jesus' journey to Calvary.
• Confession (aka Reconciliation or Penance): a sacrament (which is required only once a year but highly encouraged during Lent) in which a person confesses their sins to the priest (who is acting in the place of God) and receives forgiveness for their sins.

ALMSGIVING

Almsgiving is the practice of giving our treasure to those in need. If you are a young person reading this and saying “I'm broke” then perhaps you give up your time to volunteer during this Lent. The Bible continually alludes to the idea that true conversion manifests in caring for the least members - namely, orphans and widows (Isaiah 1:17, Jer 49:11, Deut 24:21... those are just a few). Additionally, it particularly emphasizes giving money - even the smallest contributions with great love. (Mark 12:41-44) Both Jesus and the Jews necessitate detachment from wealth and require any excess material goods to go to the poor. (Luke 18:24-27, Deut 27:19)

The traditional practices of Lent are designed in conjunction to bring us into deeper conversion. We fast of material things, return to godly things in prayer, and thus our faith manifests in almsgiving.

In the last part of the series, I want to talk a bit about how my Lent is going... Stay tuned! And as always, God bless you in your endeavors.

Lenten Series:

1. Brief Introduction
2. Fasting and other Lenten practices
3. Personal Lenten Reflection 2021

LENT (Part 1): A Slight Misnomer

The English word “Lent” leaves much to be desired. Apparently it comes from the Middle English word lenten meaning “spring season.” In Latin, however, the word for Lent is Quadragesima meaning “fortieth,” which seems much more suitable for this season. In Christianity, 40 days and 40 nights evoke the time Jesus spent in the desert before his public ministry. In fact, throughout the Bible, the number 40 has extreme importance, particularly in relation to fasting and repentance:

• The Great Flood lasted 40 days and nights (Gn 7:4-12).

• Moses spent 40 days and nights fasting in preparation for the Ten Commandments (Ex 24:18) and receiving them (Ex 34:28).

• Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years (Num 14:30).

• Elijah walked 40 days and nights to reach Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).

• The Ninevites had 40 days to decide whether to convert or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4). 

During each of these periods, the Biblical figures prepared themselves for a great event, particularly divine revelation.

How does this connect to the Lenten 40 days? Well, Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent) occurs 40 days before Easter. Since the early days of the Church, baptisms commonly occurred on Easter. Thus Lent was originally a time for the baptism candidates to prepare themselves for Christian life, similar to the aforementioned Biblical figures. Lenten practices later extended to the whole body of the church.

Some Lenten practices appear from the outside to be just “weird Catholic things.” Since this post was inspired by a Protestant friend, the question arose: “Why do Catholics celebrate Lent and not the rest of Christians?” (Spoiler alert: some Christians do.)

Protestant denominations do not observe Lent if they do not follow the liturgical seasons. (The reason why... is probably better for a future post.) However, Lutherans, Methodists, and Anglicans are all branches of Protestantism which follow the liturgical calendar. 

The liturgical seasons (image credit)

Lent is just one of the liturgical seasons, and during each season the Church calls to focus on different spiritual practices. The year starts with Advent as a time of preparation. Then Christmas is a season of joy. Ordinary time (both periods) are seasons for growing. Lent is a time of repentance, and Easter is also a season of joy and celebrating life.

But why do Catholics eat fish but not meat on Fridays? Why do we "give up" something for the 40 days? Why purple? Stay tuned for more~!

First of a 3(?)-part series on the Lenten season:

1. Brief Introduction

2. Fasting and other practices of Lent

3. Personal Lent Reflection 2021

The Anti-Gospel

“Don't be discouraged by the trouble, it's not stopping anything God has for you. God is storing up all the joy, all the good breaks, the favor, the resources that have been put on hold because of the temporary trouble.” 

This quote from Joel Osteen’s sermon “Trouble is Temporary” may sound like a positive sentiment on the surface, but it results from an extremely problematic Christian heresy: the prosperity gospel. Proponents of the prosperity gospel preach that worship in God will result in earthly success, whether it be in health, wealth, or happiness.

People generally want to succeed in life. People generally want to be healthy and happy. However, these are merely natural goods. As Christians, we believe that God is the perfect good. While it is certainly natural to pursue natural happiness in this life, the pursuit of God should always be the end goal. To pursue God in order to achieve earthly happiness is a moral evil. In prosperity theology, the desire of the perfect good (God) is merely a means to an imperfect end (earthly happiness).

Again, it may seem strong to name Osteen’s sentiments as evil, and he himself has rejected categorization into the prosperity gospel. But the problem with prosperity gospel is not just with the money. It’s encouraging our desires for natural things rather than godly things, since that is our motivation. Why ought we to pursue God? Well, the only thing that can bring true happiness is God himself. Whether God delivers us from temporary suffering in this life or not, we should pursue him. The prosperity gospel implies that a motivation for earthly goods is permissible. And while a mixed motivation should not prevent us from performing virtuous actions, we should strive towards perfecting our motivations towards something good.

Does this mean Christians hate fun and that all earthly pleasures are evil? Yep.

... *cue pictures of me on vacation*




Jokes aside, pursuing happiness in this world (i.e. a happiness apart from God) is still consistent with the Christian message. But that happiness should not be the end goal. If it is, then we are merely hedonists. Rather, the most virtuous experience of earthly pleasure is that which aligns us to God. For example, one might rest in order to better apply themselves to their ministry. Diocesan priests often have the option to take a sabbatical year after ten years “for the purpose of renewal and enrichment.” There is definitely a place for earthly pleasure in the Christian life. As long as our pursuit of pleasure is in service of God and not pursuit of God in service of pleasure.

Will we achieve more earthly happiness if we follow the Christian message? No. That much is clear. Just look at St. Paul. Or every single apostle who died a martyr. Or any martyr for that matter. Not only did they experience prolonged suffering, but suffering up until the end of their life. The Catholic Church reveres many martyrs as saints, but even outside of those, plenty of Biblical figures experienced earthly suffering for their whole life.

The trouble with the prosperity gospel is this unexplained role of suffering in a holy man’s life. Osteen uses Job to justify that “if you are suffering then eventually God will remove it.” In fact, one Jewish theology at the time of Job was “if you are suffering, then you did something wrong in life.” The men that dialogue with Job voice this idea. However, the premise of the story completely counteracts this theology. In the first chapter Satan asks God if Job would continue worshiping him if he was suffering. Job counteracts this by continually upholding his righteousness. It becomes clear by the end of the book that no suffering will change Job’s faith. His earthly happiness at the end is a literary indicator to the audience that Job was righteous all along. In a real circumstance, I don’t believe God would necessarily need to reward Job in this life.

Ultimately, our happiness is not in this life. It is in God. We have to acknowledge as Christians that our suffering is inevitable and potentially lasting our entire lives. “Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries” (Job 14:1). But Christians aren't defeatist; rather, I find true Christianity more hopeful than the prosperity gospel message. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Our suffering is worth much more than a "good break." It is worth our eternal salvation, which will be greater than anything we have seen on this earth.