Fasting for others

As I alluded to last week, the idea of fasting as more than the size meals I eat or whether or not I consume meat is a relatively new concept for me. This Lent is really opening my eyes to what fasting is and what it can be.

I’ve always thought of fasting as a personal thing. So I was surprised on Ash Wednesday to hear the priest at my church explaining that when we fast and pray and give alms, it should be for the benefit of others. I understood how we could pray for others and give to those in need … but how could I fast for others? I did not know at that time that this Lent would present opportunities for me to see how I could fast for the benefit of others.

One such opportunity was a 24-hour food fast I participated in with the youth of my church. About 15 of the youth (and some particularly inspired parents and grandparents) forwent eating and drank only juice or water for 24 hours to raise awareness and learn about world hunger and poverty while being in solidarity (a theme of Catholic social teaching) with those who hunger on a daily basis. It was great to see a group of 5th -12th graders be models for how the rest of the church might spend some of their Lent fasting for the poor.

One other way I had seen my fasting benefit others is among my own team. Not surprisingly, on a team of five we have a variety of eating preferences. Despite that, we have set aside a couple of meals each week to have one person cook and eat together. While the meals were always foods everyone would be willing to eat, recently I have seen much more thought put into meeting the needs of the rest of the team when making something. For example, though I have given up meat for the entirety of Lent, I know the majority of my team would still appreciate this source of protein in a meal. Therefore when it is my turn, I make sure to account for this need/desire in their life; they, in turn, have considerately accommodated a fairly restrictive diet. Though it was not originally my intent, I believe my fasting is benefiting us as a team.

I guess fasting for others isn’t as hard or strange as I had originally thought.