Every Friday, during Lent, we fast in the seminary. Following the invitation made by the readings of Ash Wednesday, we make a sign during lunch, and instead of eating a regular meal, we only have bread and water. We eat in silence, while a seminarian reads an account taken from the Sayings of the Fathers of the Desert. Once, when I was still a seminarian, we were going to receive a very important visit, on a Friday in Lent.
The Archbishop, together with a group of very important people for the life of the seminary, was coming over for a meeting and for lunch. That day, I was part of the group in charge of serving the meal. I was impressed to see the quality (and also the quantity) of the food prepared for that day. Appetizers, first course, second course, dessert, and coffee at the end. It was a real banquet!
I must admit that I was a bit surprised to see such a great meal on a Friday of Lent. However, the Rector, at the end of the meal, addressed those present, sharing words of gratitude and recognition, and he referred, precisely, to today’s Gospel to indicate that the occasion merited the magnitude of the meal. He said: “The Archbishop and these brothers and sisters are Christ for us; the bridegroom is here! We cannot fast! We rather enjoy His presence among us, because through them He is here!” I was really struck by his words, and they stayed with me and came to my mind every time I came across this gospel. When the bridegroom is present, we are always in a time of feast! This experience helps us see what Jesus is conveying to the Scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel, and through them to all of us.
Fasting and Prayer
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is approached by the scribes and Pharisees, who questioned his disciples’ lack of observance of the precepts regarding fasting and prayer. Jesus answered by saying, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Indeed, Jesus refers to Himself as the bridegroom who has come to invite us all to a wedding banquet. The wedding in which God unites Himself to us in the person of His Son!
How can there be fasting and sacrifice in a wedding banquet? The presence of Christ is the fulfilment of all of God’s promises. He is the “Immanuel,” God amongst us. Through His words and actions, Jesus clearly manifests that He has come to fulfil the Father’s plan of salvation. He has come to give His life for us, to rescue us from the power of sin and death, to defeat the devil and all his lies, and to inaugurate the eternal banquet of the messianic times. The scribes and the Pharisees, therefore, are missing the point!
Do Not Miss the Real Meaning
They are valuing the practice of fasting and prayer over the real meaning behind them. It is to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Also, to have the proper disposition, so that when the bridegroom comes, we may join him in the eternal feast. To be sure, there is nothing wrong with fasting and prayer. In fact, Jesus would later say that “days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast on those days.” This is a reference to the disciples experiencing the reality of the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Jesus Christ is taken from them when he entered death. In that moment, they experienced the real meaning of fasting and praying.
However, Jesus Christ rose from the dead! He destroyed death, and He appeared to them to show them that He was alive! Thus, the fasting of the disciples during His absence served only to help them. It prepared them for the fullness of joy and happiness brought forth by His resurrection. Touched by the Spirit of the risen Christ, the disciples discovered that life, with the Lord, is an eternal banquet. They gave their lives to announce that the wedding feast of the slaughtered lamb had taken place. And that ALL were invited to participate in that feast. Let us receive today’s word as what it is. It’s an invitation to discover that our life, united with the risen Lord, is a feast.
Fasting and Feasting
Certainly, we all experience moments of “fasting” that life presents to us. We all face circumstances and events that make us feel that the bridegroom has been taken away from us. In those moments, we fast and pray and wait for the Lord. Christ is risen and He will ALWAYS manifest Himself to us! He invites us to pass to His banquet and to join Him in the feast of eternal life! Thus, let us remember that our moments of fasting and penance are but a clear sign that the bridegroom is near. He is coming for us! And, that He wants us to be with Him eternally!!
May God bless you all!
