Week Five: "SUFFER WITH"
-
-
Our entrance into Holy Week — and our celebration of Easter — is fast approaching! But before we arrive, we will take a look at one last dimension of fasting. We’ve explored its connection to preparation and Jesus’ own sacrifice on the Cross, and we’ve examined how the practice of resting can lead to an openness to God’s own healing. This week, we take a look at the practice of fasting in solidarity.
Let’s face it: not everyone in this world has the luxury of choosing to fast or not. Whether it’s a fast from food or from infinite scrolling, there are those in this world whose suffering is entirely involuntary. When we choose to go without, we can practice solidarity with those who can’t make this choice. We can do what God has always done: we can suffer with them.
Ultimately, our practice of fasting — and any healing it might bring to us! — should turn us inside out. As our fasting purifies our relationship with God and with ourselves, it should lead to a renewal of our relationship with others, too. The hunger we have cultivated in our soul should spur us to put our faith in action as we use our time, talents, and treasures to serve the hungry around us.
So, this week, how can you fast and truly SUFFER WITH the less fortunate around you?
-
-
-
Jeremiah 31:31–34The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
The prophet Jeremiah recounts the words of the Lord and, specifically, God’s promise to be with the people of Israel: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Why do you think it was important for the Israelites to be reminded of God’s presence?
God promises to be so close to the people of Israel that they will have no “need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the Lord.” How does it feel to think of God as this close? What would the world look like if all really knew the Lord?
Even though God knows all things — including our brokenness — God promises to remember the sin of the people no more. Do you believe that God chooses to remember your own sin no more? When was the last time you experienced this sense of freeing absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
-
Psalm 51:3–4, 12–13, 14–15
R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
1. READ the psalm, making sure to recite at least the refrain (in bold) aloud. Read it once or twice, simply allowing the words to sink in.
2. REFLECT on what words or phrases seem to capture your attention. Return to them and ask God to reveal why these words or phrases might be resonating with you.
3. RESPOND to God, sharing openly and vulnerably what might be on your heart.
4. REST in silence and listen for God to respond to you.
-
Hebrews 5:7–9
In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus as a mediator and intercessor on behalf of humanity. Why do you think it was important to describe Jesus in these terms to the Jewish people who initially received this letter?
The writer continues that Christ “learned obedience from what he suffered,” that he was able to serve as our mediator precisely because of his experience of human suffering. Do you think the practice of suffering with others helps you to serve them more effectively?
We believe Jesus Christ, the Son of God, really did take on flesh and that his suffering was physical and tangible. What difference does Jesus’ humanity make to your understanding of who he is? How might it add meaning to his mission and his Passion, too?
-
John 12:20–33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
Jesus uses the image of a grain of wheat dying and bursting open to illustrate the meaning behind what he was about to experience in his own death and resurrection. In what other ways does this image help you to understand the Paschal Mystery?
Jesus invites his apostles to consider the reality that suffering with and for others is central to following him. How does it feel to think about the necessity of suffering as a Christian? What does this have to do with Jesus’ promise to “draw everyone to [himself]”?
What other connections do you see between all the readings for this week?
How do they connect to the idea of fasting in any way?
-
"Notes by the Way"
by Dorothy Day5 MIN READ
. . . Aside from feasts there was a monotony of diet that we should get back to for the sake of simplifying our lives, for the sake of being more truly poor with Him, for the sake of fasting, and for the sake of health. A handful of ground wheat with honey and milk on it makes a most delightful collation. A slice of whole wheat bread makes a fast day breakfast. You can buy a sack of wheat, a hundred pounds, for $3. You can live this way in city or country. Not only this is war time, but this is Lent, and Lent is a wonderful time to begin again. . . .
CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING.
Dorothy Day begins this excerpt with the observation that food is mentioned over and over again in the Old Testament and the New Testament. What are some of your favorite food-related stories from the Bible? Why do you think food is such a recurring focus throughout scripture?
She quotes The Brothers Karamazov, writing that “Obedience, fasting and prayer are laughed at, yet only through them lies the way to real, true freedom.” Do you agree with this statement? Have you experienced any sense of this freedom through your own fasting?
Finally, she writes of how we can use food and the practice of fasting as a practice of solidarity with the poor. She writes that in practicing radical simplicity, we can become poor with Christ, too. What do you think of the idea of fasting in solidarity with others? How can fasting — or any practice of simplicity — help you to become more Christ-like?
-
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
2 MIN READ
. . . Elizabeth devoted herself to a life of prayer and almsgiving, at one time giving away so much that she incurred the wrath of others at court. She built a hospital in the basement of their castle, and she regularly fed and nursed the patients. The poor lined up at her door every day, and she provided them with food, money, and work. . . .
CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary,
whose experience of loss and suffering opened your heart for the poor,
pray for us.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary,
who served the hungry not only with food but with the gift of your presence,
pray for us.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary,
who teaches us the humility of suffering with others,
pray for us.
-
-