When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you

"In detachment, the spirit finds quiet and repose for coveting nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection, because it stands in the center of its own humility." - Saint John of the Cross

(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!

Today’s reading from Isaiah is disconcerting. We know that the traditional three pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Is Isaiah discouraging fasting?

Isaiah does indeed condemn the fasting he observes among the elites of Israel . In no uncertain terms he declares that their fasting is worthless because it is a mere external observance and does not seem to reach the level of their hearts: “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 the wicked claw.”

But Isaiah wants to set the record straight. He exhorts the Israelites to fast but to fast in a manner that leads to conversion of heart — to compassion: “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 homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

Isaiah’s exhortation is as important for us as it was for the Israelites. The goal of fasting is not simply to punish our bodies by limiting sensual pleasures. Simply depriving oneself of food and drink and of material comforts can lead to a certain smugness and self-righteousness. The true goal of fasting is to break excessive attachment to material gratification so our souls are more free to fulfill the purpose of our lives -- loving God and our neighbor. And we all need to fast; it is a universal human tendency to become attached to material and sensual gratification and to be cut off from the deeper yearnings of our hearts. By cutting back on sensual gratification we can restore balance in our lives.

Ignatius of Loyola puts it succinctly and simply: We human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord; all things on the face of the earth are created to help us fulfill our end; we must use them only to the extent they help us toward our end.

We have fasted well when our inordinate attachment to creature comforts is broken and our inner freedom is restored: ”Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!”

During Lent we fast and pray for the grace of inner freedom and deeper conversion of heart!