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Thinking about Lenten fasting?

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3 comments on Thinking about Lenten fasting?

A nice attitude check is available courtesy of the Holy Father, whose Lenten message is specifically about that practice.  Check out this paragraph:

In our own day, fasting seems to have
lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a
culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a
therapeutic value for the care of one’s body. Fasting certainly
bring benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in
the first place, a "therapy" to heal all that prevents them
from conformity to the will of God. In the Apostolic Constitution
Pænitemini of 1966, the Servant of God Paul VI saw the need to
present fasting within the call of every Christian to "no longer
live for himself, but for Him who loves him and gave himself for him
… he will also have to live for his brethren" (cf. Ch. I).
Lent could be a propitious time to present again the norms contained
in the Apostolic Constitution, so that the authentic and perennial
significance of this long held practice may be rediscovered, and thus
assist us to mortify our egoism and open our heart to love of God and
neighbor, the first and greatest Commandment of the new Law and
compendium of the entire Gospel (cf. Mt 22, 34-40).


I was telling a friend after Mass that I gave up giving up food items for Lenten discipline a long time ago, because what with the history of eating disorders and all, it seriously messed with my head.   The guilt associated with the binge/purge cycle, and the guilt associated with breaking my Lenten promises, got all mixed up with each other.  On fast days I could think of nothing but eating, and would feel angry and resentful all day.

   I have some hope that those are all behind me now, but I'm still cautious about food-related penance.  I have chosen a non-food-related Lenten discipline to keep for forty days, and hope to look for opportunities to give up food items in the moment, here and there, a little bit each day.  Maybe next year I will not be so nervous about it.

I'm kind of looking forward to Wednesday.  I guess it's not till then that I'll learn whether I've been freed, not just from my day in, day out Ordinary Time disordered attachment to food, but from all the other heavy obstacles that made fast days intolerable in the past.  I was so fearful and weak, I always broke the fast in the end, one way or another.  This year I have hope.

Comments

3 responses to “Thinking about Lenten fasting?”

  1. Barbara Avatar
    Barbara

    Hi! I stopped by today to write a thank you note of sorts.
    I first came over via Elizabeth Foss, and have been back several times. Some of your thoughts have really resonated with and begun to change me.
    I’ve known for a long time that I have a disordered attachment to food, but I have not wanted to deal with it or give it to God. Reading that it is okay to be hungry was one revelation! I “knew” it, but didn’t do it.
    Anyway, thoughts swirled for days, and I eventually asked God to help me give my gluttony, my attachment, to him. And since then we’ve been doing it. It’s only been a week, but I’m hungry frequently and I’m not sneaking chocolate in the morning and I’m not eating randomly, without thinking.
    I don’t think I’ll try an official diet, although I did pick up two Beck books at the library today. I could lose some weight, but right now I want to work on just the attachment and my relationship with God, because that’s where my biggest problem is.
    I totally get the Lent thing–fast days always made me CRAZY! Sometimes I gave up sweets or chocolate for Lent. I didn’t cheat, but it made me CRAZED. Our family is giving up sweets this year (plus some individual sacrifices), and I am feeling peaceful and inspired right now.
    Just wanted you to know you’ve had a hand in a real change. I’ve recognized my problem for a long time but consciously avoided dealing with it. Thank you.

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  2. bearing Avatar
    bearing

    Wow! That’s fantastic!
    I am so glad to hear everybody’s success stories. I am keeping a list of things that motivate me to maintain my own weight, and I really have to stick in there how happy and amazed I am to realize I have motivated other people as well.
    Maybe that will also help keep me from eating that extra slice of bread at dinner. My audience, they need me.

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  3. Willa Avatar
    Willa

    I have been following your blog for a few weeks…. since Elizabeth Foss linked to it on her blog.
    I was thinking about what you said here, because I have some of the same issues (struggled with eating disorders in the past).
    It seems that I read somewhere else in your blog, though, that one of the things you recommended was to allow yourself to get hungry and see what happened… just stand back instead of getting caught up in the fear of being deprived. That made me think hard… I realized I feel trapped and frightened by hunger.
    It seems to me like Lent could give a person an opportunity to confront that. The idea of facing one’s hunger in solidarity with Jesus in the wilderness gave me personally a new way to think about Lent, anyway. Thanks for your thought-provoking blog!

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