The Question about Fasting

Today's Reflections

The Question about Fasting 

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Mt 9:14-17

¹⁴The disciples of John approached [Jesus] and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. ¹⁷People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Reflection:

Can the wedding guests mourn? According to the prophets, God is the bridegroom, Israel is the bride. Wedding feast symbolizes the kingdom of heaven. With this bridal analogy, fasting is out of place. Fasting should be done at the right time for the right reasons.

Jesus inaugurates the Kingdom of God on earth as the new wine. So instead of fasting there must be feasting, rejoicing. In such, people must renew themselves for Jesus by dying to their old habits, discarding old ways and styles which are just old wineskins. People must adapt to the new realities of Jesus and God’s Kingdom. They must present their lives with renewed freshness, with a converted heart, in conformity with the will of God.

Being with Jesus is a moment of joy. Experiencing him is a glorious event. But the time to be sad comes when we separate ourselves from Jesus. When we walk away from him and betray him, then we have to fast and be contrite; we have to be sorry and change our old self.

Jesus brings blessings, healing, peace, and joy.

Being with him, we experience happiness.