Fasting – from lack to fullness
THE WORD IN LENT 2026 – FRIDAY THIRD WEEK
March 13 – Hosea 14: 2-10; Mark 12: 28-34
Fasting is a movement from lack to fullness – just yesterday we
reflected that at times because of some justified tendencies, instead of moving
from lack to fullness, we seem to be retracting from fullness to lack, on a
tragic retro march! And this is why the Word points to us the most popular of
these retro marches – instead of turning to God in everything, we turn to
everything that is created by God, an unfortunate inversion of things. Instead
of moving from the creation towards the Creator, we forget the Creator and get
lost in the creation and the creatures!
Come back to the Lord your God, calls out Hosea in the first
reading today. The Gospel too instructs us in unequivocal terms – you must love
the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That
singlemindedness alone can save us from losing our way, going the wrong way and
leading the others in the way to perdition. Only then shall we grow closer to
the Reign of God.
Fasting as a Lenten measure, has to lead us from lack to fullness!
There can be at least two real dangers in this prescribed motion – that we get
stuck to the creations or the creatures, given to us by God; or we look forward
to what God can give us and therefore we tend to feign recognition of God. This
is the danger of the retro march, once again pictured for us in the Word today.
The question left to us is clear – where is our focus: on God or
what God can give or what God has given? Let us take a serious moment of
silence before we come up with any response to that question… that it be true
and profound, not confused or compromised. Giving the right place to God and
never replacing that choice with anything else, come what may – that is the
life we are called towards. The symbol is clear and loud – the way to the Reign
of God: how close are we or how far are we? Who can answer that question,
except each one for oneself!
The Fasting, or the Lenten practices, that we observe or any
spiritual practice for that matter has to take us closer to God, not stop with
our personal satisfaction, popular opinions or conformity to traditions.
Towards fullness is moving toward God fully.
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