Fast

A voluntary, temporary pause from consuming food, drink or some other practice as a practice in spiritual discipline. It’s not a way to prove or earn something, but a way of “taking up our cross” and “denying ourselves” (Matthew 16:24) and remembering that we do not live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4).

Matthew 6:16-18

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Counter-Cultural Act of Voluntary Denial
It has always amazed me that many people seem incapable (or at least unwilling) to go through an entire day while concentrating on a single thing. Their train of thought is constantly broken up by this demand and that – the newspaper, the radio, the television, the magazines. No wonder so many people feel fractured and fragmented. Obviously, there is a time for the media, but there is also a time to be without the media. Parents send their children to summer camp and the children come back thrilled because “God spoke to me!” What happened at camp was this: they simply were freed of enough distractions for a long enough period of time that they were able to concentrate. We too can do that through the course of our ordinary days.                                                                                        

– Richard J. Foster, Study Guide for Celebration of Discipline (1983)

Reflection and Prayer

Spend some time reading the passage slowly. How does this passage shape how you understand this word? As Lent begins, is there a fast that you are considering? What is the “reward” that you might be seeking?