“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life”

THAT’S from the Gospel of St. John (6,63) and is used often as a Responsorial Psalm in many Masses. It reminds us that God’s words, though written also by men and use human elements with all their limitations, have a transformative power that gives spiritual nourishment and guidance to us. In the end, we are reminded that God’s words are what would actually give us the real life meant for us. 

 We need to understand that God’s words should take precedence over any human reasoning, philosophy or ideology. And that’s because God’s words are obviously divinely inspired that originate from a higher power and not limited by human understanding. They have a timeless and universal scope that will always be relevant across eras and cultures. They are actually infallible and contain wisdom that is beyond human comprehension. 

 In contrast, human philosophies and ideologies are limited by human perspective, shaped by individual or cultural biases. They are imperfect, prone to errors and flaws. And they usually are relevant only to specific contexts or times. God’s words offer, on the other hand, a broader, deeper and more enduring truth, transcending human wisdom. 

 Let’s remember that God’s words as spoken to us by Christ are no ordinary words that would just come and go. His words are eternal, effective and ever relevant to everything that happens in our life. His words will always shed light and give meaning to every event, situation and predicament we can have in this life. 

 The Letter to the Hebrews says as much: “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (4,12) 

 The Letter to the Hebrews continues by saying: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (4,13) 

 We have to realize that we need to be guided by God’s words rather than by our own thoughts, reasoning and estimations of things alone. No matter how brilliant and clever we are, we can only go so far in understanding things in this world, many of which are very mysterious to us. 

 We have to develop a fondness for the words of God. This we can do as long as we exert due effort and continually ask, with humility, for the grace of God. Without these requirements, we can easily be swept away by the many alluring ideologies in the world. 

 It’s when we listen and live by God’s words that we attain our human and Christian maturity. And as St. Paul would say, we would then be like infants no longer, “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of the people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4,14) 

 It’s important that we spend time developing a liking and an intimacy with the words of God. We have to read and meditate on them daily, and use them as the spirit behind all events, activities and concerns that we have during the day. 

 Let us promote a culture of gospel-reading and meditation everyday. A few minutes with the gospel daily can go a long way in putting our life on the right path. We should not miss the great treasure we have in the gospel. We can use the new technologies to promote this culture.

Man does not live by bread alone

WE, of course, need to eat bread also. After all, we are also material beings that need to be fed and nourished by material food, such as bread. But since we are also spiritual and supposed to be a supernatural being—in fact, eminently so—we should not limit ourselves to natural food. We should look more for the spiritual and supernatural food that is more proper to us. 

 This could be the reason why from time to time the Church asks us to do some fasting. It’s meant to draw us closer to God, seeking spiritual growth and self-reflection. It is also a good way to practice self-discipline and self-control, the contrary of which we are quite notorious in. It effectively expresses repentance and humility which is the antidote for our tendency to be proud and vain. It helps us to focus on prayer and spiritual nourishment. 

 In short, fasting can deepen our faith. It can prod us to seek guidance and wisdom instead of just relying on our own ideas. It makes us follow clearly what Christ told us with respect to self-denial. We should do everything to make fasting a regular feature of our life. 

 This means that we should always be on guard against gluttony. We cannot deny that, especially in our current world culture, we tend to overeat, consume large amounts of unhealthy or luxurious food and drink. 

 We even give the highest priority to food and drink over other aspects of life. It is also likely that gluttony leads us to ignore health and social duties due to excessive eating and drinking. 

 We really have to make fasting a regular practice in our life. With fasting, we would be more aware of our real needs. It certainly would strengthen our willpower and discipline. 

 More importantly, it helps us to shift our focus from food to spiritual growth and the other more important aspects of life. This is not to mention that fasting somehow cultivates a stronger sense of gratitude as we would be more appreciative of the food we have. Besides, fasting can develop in us a keener sense of empathy as we join in spirit with those who also fast or who go without food. 

 Fasting can also make us more resistant to the temptations of the devil and to the many allurements of the world. And it would make us more attentive to what really matters in our life—listening and living out the word of God. (cfr. Mt 4,4) It certainly would make us more able to dominate our animal self to bring us to our ideal spiritual and supernatural self. 

 Let’s never forget that we also are an animal ruled merely by instincts, hormones and other biological elements. The animal in us should be dominated by our human rationality which also ought to be guided by the spiritual and supernatural will of God in whose image and likeness we have been created. 

 We therefore have to undertake a lifelong process of integrating the animal in us with the rationality of our human nature that in the end should be purified and elevated to the spiritual and supernatural life and nature of God. And fasting, together with prayer and other ascetical means, plays an important role in this. 

 The challenge therefore is how to carry out this very tricky and demanding task of integrating all these aspects. And for this, we should first of all rely on the grace of God, always asking for it even if it is readily given to us. That’s because we often take God’s grace for granted, and thus make ourselves the improper ground unable to take advantage of the grace that is sown on it.

A time for fasting and for feasting

CHRIST explained it well as to when it is proper to fast and when to feast. “Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as along as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.” (Mt 9,15) 

 I suppose Christ was referring to himself as the bridegroom. In fact, in his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul referred Christ as the groom of the Church, that is, us. (cfr 5,22-32) 

 Christ can be regarded as the bridegroom who actually is with us always, but also not yet fully with us, given our human and temporal condition as of yet. We are still on our pilgrim way on earth toward our eternal destiny in heaven where Christ will be fully with us. 

 That is why Christ can be considered somehow as not yet with us, and that’s the reason why we have to fast. It is to train ourselves to seek him. It is to make us realize we need him, and that we actually will find our true and lasting joy with him. At the moment, we are still kind of mourning, as Christ said, because we are not yet fully with him. 

 We have to be clear about the reason why we fast. We should not just fast because we have been commanded to do so. We have to fast because, especially at these times when we are easily carried away by earthly pleasures, we need to sharpen our longing for Christ. 

 Fasting has a dual effect. One is the passive or the negative effect, which is that of disciplining ourselves—especially our senses and our other bodily faculties. This is the self-denial part. And the other is the active or the positive one, which is that of honing our hunger for Christ. This is the following part, as illustrated in the very words of Christ: “If any man wants to follow me, he must deny himself, carry the cross, and follow me.” 

 These two should go together, mutually affecting each other. One without the other would distort the true character and purpose of fasting. 

 And nowadays, we have to understand that fasting should not be limited to matters of food and drinks. It has to be extended now most especially in the use of the many conveniences that we now enjoy, like our new technologies, that have an effective way of enslaving us and blunting our love for God and for others. 

 We need to concretize our resolutions with regard to this need for fasting. This may mean that we have to set aside our cellphones from time to time, that we use the gadgets with clear rectitude of intention, that we refrain from complaining when these same gadgets give us problems as they often do also, etc. 

 We have to understand that everyday, the element of fasting as a sacrifice is actually a necessity to all of us. It’s certainly a time-honored practice that has deep roots in the Bible and in Church tradition. Together with prayer and almsgiving, fasting is the usual pious tool to transform our heart, detaching it from itself so it can give itself totally to God and to others, as we are meant to be. 

 We can never overemphasize the need for fasting. In fact, it should be an abiding practice, and not just a Lenten thing. Given our wounded human condition, fasting offers a continuing corrective to our ever-unstable state of being.