Commentary of the Gospell

September 2, 2022

Why Fast?

Fasting for fasting’s sake is no benefit for the soul. Fasting undertaken for selfish goals is harmful. When one fasts for the right purposes and with the right spirit, one would know when to begin and when to end. Here are some insights from Mahatma Gandhi, who defined fasting as satyagraha (holding on to truth):

“Fasting and prayer therefore are a most powerful process of purification and that which purifies necessarily enable us the better to do our duty and to attain our goal. If therefore fasting and prayer seem at times not to answer, it is not because there is nothing in them but because the right spirit is not behind them …. There is no prayer without fasting, taking fasting in its widest sense. A complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the truest prayer. ‘Take my life and let it be always, only, all for Thee’ is not, should not be, a mere lip or figurative expression.”

Paulson Veliyannoor, CMF - Claretian Publications Philippines