In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
On the first Sunday of Lent we see Our Lord being led into the desert by the Holy Ghost.
There he was fasting during 40 days and nights, i.e. he did not eat or drink anything. He was able to do such a total fast because his human nature is intimately united with the second divine person, the Word of God. Thus he is able to transcend the human necessities which we, as human persons, experience in our nature.
true and false fasting
There have always been human beings who are imitating this prodigy. Either – and this is more commonly the case – they cheat; some die while they try to do the impossible; and some do it with supranatural help, i.e. with the help and assistance of the devils who are always ready to operate prodigies in order to impress credulous minds.
Those pagans who call themselves Muslim, do a rigorous fast. There is nothing objectionable in this. What is objectionable is the fact that finally it is not truly virtuous since they eat and drink as much as they like (or as much as they can) between sunset and sunrise. So they behave like angels during the day – they do not allow themselves even a drop of water, no difference whether they live in a very hot or in a temperate climate; and like animals during the night hours. This manner of brutalizing the human nature is a quite certain sign of the devils’ delusions by which he tries to ensnare the humans and do as much harm as possible.
Holy Church prescribes a fast which is in keeping with human nature. If followed correctly, it is very virtuous to fast in this way.
One full meal is allowed during the day, usually around noon. Two snacks are allowed, no further eating between meals. One can always drink water which does not break the fast (not even the Eucharistic fast). Other liquids – light tea or coffee etc. – can be taken as long as they are not meant to replace what is wanting in food.
The ecclesiastical fast is only prescribed for grown-up people in the force of their age – neither children and teenagers, nor elderly people are under an obligation to fast. Sundays are never days of fast or penance. Holy days of obligation that occur during Lent (St Joseph, Annunciation) are days of fast (and abstinence), according to the Code of Canon Law. Abstinence from meat and meat products is prescribed on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays and Saturdays in Lent (and all Fridays during the rest of the year).
temptation
Our Lord, after having fasted from food and drink for 40 days, was hungry. The devil used this occasion in order to tempt him.
Christ could only be tempted from without, i.e. by the devil and the world. He could not possibly be tempted from within, i.e. by his human nature because it was not the fallen, but the intact human nature, totally unspoiled from sin.
But he did accept to be tempted by the devil who wanted to find out whether or not this Jesus of Nazareth was the true Son of God made man. Our Lord did not give away his great secret. Only his holy life, his holy teaching and his miracles would prove his divinity, together with his sacred Passion, Death and Resurrection which he foretold the Apostles last Sunday.
Our case is different from Our Lord’s in many ways although he shared the same human nature – body and soul. We are much rather tempted by our fallen nature and by the world. The devil never sleeps, and he is always meddling in our temptations – but they are not normally primarily his doing.
You may or may not know the story of one of the holy desert fathers. One day he was shown how his kind were beleaguered by innumerable demons. The life of a religious, and in particular that of a hermit, is very tough in this regard also. On the other hand he saw a big city where some demons were just hanging around lazily without bothering to tempt the citizens. Thus the holy man was given to understand that those who resolutely follow the way of perfection have to sustain many temptations by the devil; but that those who live in accordance with the principles of the rotten world, are more or less left alone by the evil spirits because they are already his safe prey. St Ignatius of Loyola says exactly the same in his rules of discernment of the spirits.
holy desires
My dear Catholics, St Paul today tells us that we need to see to it that we have not received God’s grace in vain. Now is the acceptable time to have great and holy desires. Our Lenten resolutions must be magnanimous, but foremost they must be efficient. “Many resolutions have we taken, few have we kept”, and old Way of the Cross says. The way to Hell is paved with good intentions, i.e. with good but ineffective resolutions.
Generally we should take two or three resolutions: one concerning prayer, another one or two concerning sins and the opposed virtues. Taking a multitude of resolutions is a safe way for them to be ineffective, as I am telling you continuously with regards to the particular resolution in connection with Confession.
Undertake to heal those wounds of your fallen nature that are most obvious, or those you find most difficult to come up against. If you cannot find anything worthwhile, ask those around you: they can easily tell you what your faults are... Thus you will make the most of this Lenten season, of this particular time of grace.
Our Lady has never refused anything to God. The Saints have learned to ever better fulfill His holy will. Let us endeavor to follow their footsteps. Thus we will learn to follow the bloody footsteps of Our Lord during his earthly life, and particularly during his sacred Passion. After having suffered with him and for him, we will also reign with him on the day of eternity.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski
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