24 February 2023 – Matthew 9:14-15
The Gospel more than once contrasts the lifestyle of Jesus with that of John the Baptist. In today’s passage, we see the disciples of John the Baptist (John himself never questions anything that Jesus does) asking Jesus: Why do we and the Pharisees fast many times, while your disciples do not fast: Jesus answers that it is not normal to fast when the
bridegroom is still with them. He is the Bridegroom and, while he is present, it is a time of feasting. Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be so inappropriate at this time of joy, as at a wedding feast or when Jesus is announcing the Kingdom.
Fasting is a very ancient custom, practised in almost all religions. Jesus himself fasted for forty days (Mt 4:2). But he does not insist the disciples to do the same, he leaves them free. Therefore, the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to know why Jesus does not insist on this practice.
In the Bible, we find many references to fasting as a means of penance to bring about conversion. Through the practice of fasting, Christians imitated Jesus who fasted for forty days. Fasting helps to keep the mind free and clear; to improve self-control; to give a critical view of reality; to keep the will steadfast; and, finally, it is a means that helps to heal health.
Fasting can be a form of identification with the poor who are forced into it because they cannot feed themselves adequately. Fasting is also a form of protest. Fasting is a way of mortifying ourselves before God, to be repeated many times precisely because it fails to maintain our covenant with him.
Although it has many positive aspects, God does not want this kind of fasting, but what is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: to free the oppressed, to share bread with the hungry; to help the wretched, to clothe the naked, not to neglect one’s family. This is what we can do for God. It is the same speech that the Lord Jesus tries to make to his interlocutors, answering them with another question that invites reflection
Behind today’s readings, says Pope Francis, there is the ghost of hypocrisy, of formality in fulfilling the commandments, in this case fasting. So Jesus returns to the theme of hypocrisy many times when he sees that the doctors of the law think they are perfect: they fulfil everything in the commandments as if it were a formality. And here, the Pope warned, there is a problem of memory, which concerns this double face in going on the road of life. For the hypocrites have forgotten that they have been elected by God into a people, not by themselves. They have forgotten the history of their people, that history of salvation, of election, of covenant, of promise that comes directly from the Lord.
For good workers…
Jesus, in his life, points his disciples to something deeper and more important than fasting, that is, having compassion for others bringing joy, comfort, healing into people’s lives. And this is what Jesus expects of us.
P JOBY KAVUNGAL RCJ