Fasting - We Serve One Another

“As the Body of Christ, We Serve One Another” 
(Written by Paul Schwankl for the March 3, 2013 Forum Cover.)

In school many years ago, I roomed with a Jewish Iranian. Because of his religion and nationality, he knew all about the Jewish 24-hour fast on Yom Kippur and the Muslim month-long daytime fast for Ramadan, but he had little acquaintance with Christian practices. So when I told him that Catholics could eat three meals a day when we fasted and that we had only three fast days a year (and Holy Saturday wasn’t obligatory), he rightly thought we were getting off easy. (I’m sure I’d get the same reaction from an Eastern Orthodox Christian; their fasts are complex and very strict.) And after we turn 59, we don’t have to fast at all (except, of course, the one-hour fast prior to Communion).

Still, our prayers at Mass talk of fasting and bodily self denial, echoing the time when every weekday of Lent was a fast day. Maybe the best meaning to take from these prayers, for me, is to use today’s easy fasting rules as signposts toward a broader approach. I try to eat for quality rather than quantity, for example: more organics, more fruits and vegetables, less junk. The results will be that I feel better, live longer, and help the earth. That’s Lenten, isn’t it?

Fundamentally, what we do in Lent really is intended to help us achieve the greater purpose of caring for life and each other. The current efforts to care for the environment are not really new to the Church (just look at our patron, Saint Francis!). In fact, Pope Benedict has been nicknamed the “Green Pope” for frequently speaking on climate change and “greening” the Vatican. Why is the Church doing more these days to care for the environment? Because of its impact on the poor, and because we have a chance to change the future by our actions today. “As the Body of Christ, We Serve One Another!”

Paul Schwankl, parish member

Enjoy continuing to use your Parish LENTEN PROJECT sack and activities calendar to Sustain a House – Fight Poverty… Help a family … Help a community. All money collected will go to sponsor our Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley 2013 Catholic House at: 2143 Merrill, Ypsilanti 48197. Learn more at: StFrancisA2.com/lent 

Our Lenten Activities Calendar 2013  

Our PRAYERS of the Faithful Petitions During Masses 2013

Our ARTICLES, all tie into Habitat for Humanity's sustainable practices.