{"id":18833,"date":"2020-02-28T04:41:57","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T09:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/?p=18833"},"modified":"2020-02-28T08:49:34","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T13:49:34","slug":"the-fasting-the-lord-wishes-to-unite-us-to-the-bridegroom-friday-after-ash-wednesday-february-28-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/the-fasting-the-lord-wishes-to-unite-us-to-the-bridegroom-friday-after-ash-wednesday-february-28-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fasting the Lord Wishes to Unite Us to the Bridegroom, Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 28, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Father\u00a0Roger J. Landry<br \/>\nSacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan<br \/>\nFriday after Ash Wednesday<br \/>\nFebruary 28, 2020<br \/>\nIs 58:1-9, Ps 51, Mt 9:14-15<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>To listen to an audio recording of this homily, please click below:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-18833-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2.28.20-Homily-1.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2.28.20-Homily-1.mp3\">https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2.28.20-Homily-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The\u00a0following points were attempted in the homily:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Today in the readings from Sacred Scripture the Church gives us, she wants us to ponder the true meaning of the fasting we\u2019re called to be doing in Lent and in life. Two days ago on Ash Wednesday, Jesus told us that he wanted us to fast differently from all the rest who look gloomy, neglect their appearance and even put white paste on their face to make them appear more pallid so that everyone else may recognize they\u2019re fasting. Jesus tells us that the type of fasting he wants of us is meant to be done for and in communion with the Father who relates to us in secret. He wants us to anoint our head and wash our face so that no one will be able to notice that we\u2019re fasting. God wants a different type of fasting from us.<\/li>\n<li>On the surface of today\u2019s Gospel, Jesus implies that he was preaching but not practicing his teaching on fasting. Perhaps the rumors they may have heard were true that before his public ministry, Jesus had fasted for 40 days in the desert, but it didn\u2019t appear that he and his followers were fasting at all now. That\u2019s why the disciples of St. John the Baptist came to him to ask why his disciples weren\u2019t fasting the way John and the Pharisees fasted. John, we know, was an heroic faster, living basically off of locusts and wild honey, and we can presume that many of his disciples were imitating his asceticism. Unlike the Pharisees who used to criticize Jesus and try to entrap him, John\u2019s disciples seemed to have a genuine interest in the truth about what they needed to do and were shocked that Jesus and his disciples seemed to be lax when it came to this spiritual discipline. Delicately and respectfully, they asked Jesus why his\u00a0<em>disciples<\/em>\u00a0were not fasting, as if Jesus himself, the Lamb pointed out by John, might be an exception to any discipline followed by others. And Jesus gave us an important principle: \u201cCan the sons of the wedding chamber [the loose translation \u201cwedding guests\u201d doesn\u2019t do justice to the Greek, which I\u2019ve translated literally above and can more loosely and accurately be translated groomsmen] mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In giving us this principle, Jesus highlighted\u00a0two things:\n<ul>\n<li>First, he\u00a0identified himself, basically, as the long awaited Bridegroom of the People Israel described by the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea and defines the apostles as the groomsmen awaiting the time when the Bridegroom would go to meet the Bride and the bridesmaids and take them for the wedding reception. It was not a time of mourning \u2014 one of the two purposes of Jewish fasting, mourning over one\u2019s sins; the other was supplication \u2014 but of celebration. Jesus points out here that the fundamental attitude of those who associate with him needs to be celebration at his presence. We Christians are sons of the wedding chamber heading toward the eternal wedding banquet and we need to be marked by the joy that always is associated by those in the wedding party.<\/li>\n<li>Second, Jesus mentions that a time will come when the Bridegroom is violently ripped away from them \u2014 which happened in the Garden of Gethsemane and then on Calvary \u2014 and they would fast (and mourn) on that day like a bride if her husband were kidnapped or killed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The question we should ask as Christians, however, is why are we fasting\u00a0<em>today<\/em>? Why do we fast throughout Lent? The Bridegroom who was ripped away for a time rose from the dead and returned 40 hours later. Before he ascended into heaven he assured us that he was going to be with us always until the end of time. The same Bridegroom is with us in the tabernacle who was with the disciples of John the Baptist and the sons of the wedding chamber in today\u2019s Gospel. So why do we fast if the Bridegroom is with us? The reason is because,\u00a0<em>even though he is with us, we\u2019re not entirely with him<\/em>. Parts of us are in communion with him, and parts of us are not. The reason why we fast is to seek to bring those parts that are not united with him into union.\u00a0<em>Our fasting is to increase our hunger for what God hungers for, until every cell of our body desires what he desires.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>That\u2019s the type of fasting God speaks about in the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The Israelites were fasting but God wasn\u2019t pleased because they thought their going without food during daylight hours alone somehow was enough to get the Lord to listen to their prayers. God sent the Prophet Isaiah to sound\u00a0his call to conversion so that they would grasp that the fasting the Lord desires is for them to hunger for what the Lord hungers. \u201cCry out full-throated and unsparingly,\u201d the Lord instructs Isaiah. \u201cTell my people of their wickedness. \u2026 They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God [by their bodily prayers]. Why do we fast, [they ask], and you do not see it? Why do we afflict ourselves and you take not of it?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The Lord then responds to their questions. He says, because \u201con your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, [not mine], and drive all your laborers [rather than treat them with charity and mercy]. Your fast ends [not in communion and love but] in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw,\u201d an image that brings to mind the way bears would attack each other to death. \u201cWould that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!\u201d God loves them and wants to answer their prayers but not when they think all they need to do is abstain from food while continuing with unjust and evil practices contrary to his will.<\/li>\n<li>God then tells them what he hungers for and instructs them to the type of fast that will get them to hunger for the same things. \u201cThis is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, \u2026 setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.\u201d God wants us to be\u00a0<em>starving\u00a0<\/em>for what he starves, for us to release his sons and daughters imprisoned unjustly, breaking the yokes that bind them to slavery and servitude, feeding his hungry children, clothing the naked ones, and in a particular way caring for our family members. Jesus himself would say that he had come to set the captives free. He would personally identify with all of those in such circumstances, reminding us we would be judged on how we responded to him in disguise when he was hungry, or naked, or imprisoned, or sick.<\/li>\n<li>At the beginning of Lent, God wants to remind us that our fasting is meant to help us unite with those who fast everyday not be religious choice but by poverty and circumstances. It\u2019s not only meant to help us to understand their lot better and engender compassion but also meant to help us to feed them. The food we don\u2019t eat on a given day is not meant just to remain in our refrigerator for tomorrow but shared with those who have no food today.\u00a0The purpose of our fasting is to unite with Christ those parts of us that are not yet hungering for what God hungers and through the Prophet Isaiah God tells us very clearly what he hungers for. And God wants us to be hungrier to care for the poor, needy and oppressed than someone who hadn\u2019t eaten for days would be for a piece of bread.<\/li>\n<li>Today as we come to Mass, Jesus, the Bridegroom, wants us to help us, like he helped John of God, learn how to hunger ever more for what he hungers. He wants to teach us how to fast so that our desires may grow to become more and more his desires. He doesn\u2019t want us to fast in a gloomy or mournful way, but in a joyous way, as sons of the wedding chamber, because to serve those in need should bring us joy. The Eucharistic fast we live is to hunger for this communion with the Lord, to desire him even more, and to desire and love him is to seek, desire and love what he seeks, desires and loves. So we come here with our longing. In response, the Bridegroom gives us something far greater than we could have ever desired on our own. He welcomes us not merely as sons of the wedding chamber but as the Bride herself\u00a0as he prepares us for the consummation of the nuptial union of love, as we, on the altar that is the marriage bed of the union between Christ and the Church, prepare to receive within the body and blood of the Bridegroom, becoming one flesh with him. This is what we hunger for and the more we hunger for Jesus the more we will hunger for what he hungers and the more readily we will go out to continue his mission of caring for a world that starves for him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>The readings for the Mass were:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<h4>Reading 1<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/isaiah\/58:1\">IS 58:1-9A<\/a><\/h4>\n<div>Thus says the Lord GOD:<br \/>\nCry out full-throated and unsparingly,<br \/>\nlift up your voice like a trumpet blast;<br \/>\nTell my people their wickedness,<br \/>\nand the house of Jacob their sins.<br \/>\nThey seek me day after day,<br \/>\nand desire to know my ways,<br \/>\nLike a nation that has done what is just<br \/>\nand not abandoned the law of their God;<br \/>\nThey ask me to declare what is due them,<br \/>\npleased to gain access to God.<br \/>\n\u201cWhy do we fast, and you do not see it?<br \/>\nafflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?\u201d<\/div>\n<div>Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,<br \/>\nand drive all your laborers.<br \/>\nYes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,<br \/>\nstriking with wicked claw.<br \/>\nWould that today you might fast<br \/>\nso as to make your voice heard on high!<br \/>\nIs this the manner of fasting I wish,<br \/>\nof keeping a day of penance:<br \/>\nThat a man bow his head like a reed<br \/>\nand lie in sackcloth and ashes?<br \/>\nDo you call this a fast,<br \/>\na day acceptable to the LORD?<br \/>\nThis, rather, is the fasting that I wish:<br \/>\nreleasing those bound unjustly,<br \/>\nuntying the thongs of the yoke;<br \/>\nSetting free the oppressed,<br \/>\nbreaking every yoke;<br \/>\nSharing your bread with the hungry,<br \/>\nsheltering the oppressed and the homeless;<br \/>\nClothing the naked when you see them,<br \/>\nand not turning your back on your own.<br \/>\nThen your light shall break forth like the dawn,<br \/>\nand your wound shall quickly be healed;<br \/>\nYour vindication shall go before you,<br \/>\nand the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.<br \/>\nThen you shall call, and the LORD will answer,<br \/>\nyou shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h4>Responsorial Psalm<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/psalms\/51:3\">PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19<\/a><\/h4>\n<div>R. (19b)\u00a0A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.<br \/>\nHave mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;<br \/>\nin the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.<br \/>\nThoroughly wash me from my guilt<br \/>\nand of my sin cleanse me.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.<br \/>\nFor I acknowledge my offense,<br \/>\nand my sin is before me always:<br \/>\n\u201cAgainst you only have I sinned,<br \/>\nand done what is evil in your sight.\u201d<br \/>\nR.\u00a0A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.<br \/>\nFor you are not pleased with sacrifices;<br \/>\nshould I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.<br \/>\nMy sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;<br \/>\na heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h4>Gospel<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/9:14\">MT 9:14-15<\/a><\/h4>\n<div>The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,<br \/>\n\u201cWhy do we and the Pharisees fast much,<br \/>\nbut your disciples do not fast?\u201d<br \/>\nJesus answered them, \u201cCan the wedding guests mourn<br \/>\nas long as the bridegroom is with them?<br \/>\nThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,<br \/>\nand then they will fast.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-12-at-4.52.31-AM.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-18835\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-12-at-4.52.31-AM.png?resize=300%2C203&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Father\u00a0Roger J. Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday after Ash Wednesday February 28, 2020 Is 58:1-9, Ps 51, Mt 9:14-15 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of this homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The\u00a0following points were attempted in the homily:\u00a0 Today in the readings from Sacred Scripture the Church [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11775,1063,3,4],"tags":[4327,2573,4910,2466,4648,4907,2184,4908,747,4909],"class_list":["post-18833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2019-2020-year-ii","category-audio-homily","category-homily","category-year-ii","tag-bridegroom","tag-charity","tag-fast-god-desires","tag-fasting","tag-hunger","tag-is-581-9","tag-john-the-baptist","tag-mt-914-15","tag-ps-51","tag-sons-of-the-wedding-chamber"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Fasting the Lord Wishes to Unite Us to the Bridegroom, Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 28, 2020 - Catholic Preaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/the-fasting-the-lord-wishes-to-unite-us-to-the-bridegroom-friday-after-ash-wednesday-february-28-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Fasting the Lord Wishes to Unite Us to the Bridegroom, Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 28, 2020 - Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Father\u00a0Roger J. Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday after Ash Wednesday February 28, 2020 Is 58:1-9, Ps 51, Mt 9:14-15 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of this homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The\u00a0following points were attempted in the homily:\u00a0 Today in the readings from Sacred Scripture the Church [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/the-fasting-the-lord-wishes-to-unite-us-to-the-bridegroom-friday-after-ash-wednesday-february-28-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-28T09:41:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-28T13:49:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-12-at-4.52.31-AM.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday after Ash Wednesday February 28, 2020 Is 58:1-9, Ps 51, Mt 9:14-15 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of this homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The\u00a0following points were attempted in the homily:\u00a0 Today in the readings from Sacred Scripture the Church [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/the-fasting-the-lord-wishes-to-unite-us-to-the-bridegroom-friday-after-ash-wednesday-february-28-2020\/","og_site_name":"Catholic Preaching","article_published_time":"2020-02-28T09:41:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-28T13:49:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-12-at-4.52.31-AM.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Fr. Roger Landry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. 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