Reading 1
Is 58:1-9a
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
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.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
Responsorial PsalmR. (19b)
A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel
Mt 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
Meditation: Isaiah 58:1-9
Why do we fast, and you do not see it?” (Isaiah 58:3)
Don’t you feel at least a little sorry for the people of Israel? Here they are, fasting faithfully, and yet the prophet tells them how displeased God is with them. You can just imagine them demanding: “What more could God possibly want?”
Since he is not one to leave a question unanswered, God replies clearly: “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed” (Isaiah 58:6). In other words, fasting for the sake of fasting is limited in its effectiveness. It needs to be linked with some other action that has meaning beyond the simple experience of hunger.
This is why we are always asked to link our fasting in Lent with the other actions of prayer and almsgiving. When we take up these three practices together, we are opening the door for God to work powerfully in us and through us.
According to Pope Benedict XVI, fasting “nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by his saving word.” When we fast this way, the pope says, we are naturally led to prayer, which satisfies “the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.” Then, as we add prayer to our fasting, we find God opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters in need. He gives us a sense of compassion for them that moves us to serve them: “Voluntary fasting enables us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends low and goes to the help of his suffering brother” (Message for Lent, 2009).
Have you decided what your Lenten fast will be? Whatever you “give up,” be sure that you are making room for prayer each day. Tell the Lord how you hunger and thirst for him. Let your fast become a reflection of that longing. Then, as Lent unfolds, watch to see how God satisfies your longing. Watch, too, for ways that he sends you out to share his blessings with the people around you. Always remember God’s promise: “Your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed” (Isaiah 58:8).
“Lord, I hunger and thirst for you. Fill me with your presence so that I can bear fruit for your kingdom.”
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