Friday’s Sermon

Wisma Sang Penebus, 13 Februari 2016

Yes 58:1-9a

Mat 9:14-15

My dear Brothers in Jesus Christ......

Fasting is the theme of the Gospel today, In the Gospel Jesus gives us the perspective about fasting.  As we know, the Gospel’ readings today is apart of the sermont in the mount This Sermon is the bigger picture of what Jesus asks of us and how we should frame our Lent with a more universal perspective.  Fasting is not done by Jesus disciples for as long as he, the bridegroom is among them. Thus there is a theme of the presence of Jesus working with his disciples in the plan of God we call salvation history.  But the questiones is what about us now during this Lent? We seem to think fasting is the difficult  thing to do among the three proposed actions of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? Or sometimes, many of us think of fasting as a spiritual duty to God, depriving ourselves of food and drink for a period of time in order to prove our love for Him. These not what Jesus means to us, on the contrary, the Scriptures tell us and give us a new way/new perspective of looking at fasting.

My dear Brothers in Jesus Christ......

The Scriptures push us to think of fasting not only in action of praying but in doing good works for others as we frequently see in Isaiah, Psalm 51, and in Jesus’ teachings. In the first reading, Isaiah does this by showing that fasting is seen more as freeing captives, helping the poor and visiting the sick.  Paying attention to these works is a creative form of fasting, and that is what the prophet is/ we are calling for.

My dear Brothers in Jesus Christ......

We are not the disciples of John the Baptist who fasted often, but disciples of the Jesus, Lord who shows Himself as the bridegroom among us in the person of others.  Learned from Jesus, we can be creative and more in touch with the spirit of fasting by being generous with our time, by listening carefully to others and allowing them to speak when they are shy and when they are in trouble, to be patient, keep doing “random acts of kindness” for others, and much more, through the practice of fasting, we (Christians) imitated Jesus who fasted during forty days, Fasting also can be a form of identification with the poor who are obliged  to fast the whole year and eat meat very rarely.

My Dear Brothers in Jesus Christ...

Lent is not “giving up” but rather “giving out.” It,s means that Fasting is not only how we pray  but also how we work for others. Let us pray to Jesus, and  ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us to think creatively and to do these works of mercy, especially in this lent, Amen.