March 7, 2025
Friday after Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 221
Reading 1
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
""Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?""
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Responsorial Psalm
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you
will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Verse Before the Gospel
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you.
Gospel
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
"Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus 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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030725.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
58:1-9
Today we have a magnificent and, in many ways, a frightening
passage from Isaiah. It points to where true religion is to be found.
We have here a wonderful prophetic call in the spirit of
those great prophets who lived in the post-Exile period. The call is for an
inward spirit to match outward observance. It is a call that pervades Jesus’
teaching in the Gospel, and is found touched on in today’s Gospel.
The prophet writes:
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Big feasts and the beginning of fasts were proclaimed by a
trumpet. At Mount Sinai, God’s voice is compared to a trumpet blast. Actually,
only one day, the Day of Atonement, was prescribed for fasting, but there could
be other days to commemorate some national disaster. Today our Ash Wednesday
fills a similar role, a day when many of our churches are packed.
The people are asking God to come near. They are calling out
for just laws. They want to have their fasting and their penances noticed by
God. On the surface, they seem to be so religious, so pious and docile, but all
the while they are neglecting to do what God really wants. They ask
plaintively:
Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?
God, through the voice of his prophet Isaiah, gives them a
powerful response, one they hardly expected. Instead of praise, they get
condemnation.
Yes, they fast all right, but at the same time they “serve
[their] own interest”. They do business on their holy days and oppress their
workers. They fast, but at the same time quarrel and squabble and physically
abuse the poor.
Is this what God wants? Is this real fasting and
penance…looking miserable?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Is it all these very pious acts that God cherishes and
wants?
The kind of fast that the Lord wants is something altogether
different. Is it not:
…to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin…
These words were written thousands of years ago. Yet they
still apply fully in our enlightened age. They contain a proclamation that will
be repeated by Jesus both in his words and actions. It is by doing these things
that we will really be in the spirit of Lent. It is a lot more than keeping the
fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, or giving up things like
sweets or smoking.
What is really important is to reach out in love and
compassion to those in need, and to treat every single person with respect and
dignity.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly…
What “healing”? It is the healing of the wound of our
sinfulness, shown by our lack of love and sense of responsibility. It is the
wound of our hypocrisy and false religion.
After doing all that, when we cry out to the Lord, he will
answer:
Here I am.
Yes, he is with us when, in the midst of pain and misery, we
reach out to him. He does not need for us to “lie in sackcloth and ashes”.
How do I think God sees me during this Lenten season? What
am I doing in response to God’s call to come to the help of my brothers and
sisters?
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Commentary on
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 they and the Pharisees fast regularly, but his disciples do not.
The reason Jesus gave was because it was not normal to fast
when the bridegroom was still around. He is the Bridegroom and, as long as he
was present, it was a time for celebration. Fasting is a sign of mourning and
would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the
Kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast.
But there is more than that. Jesus, in his life, pointed his
disciples to something deeper and more important than fasting, namely, reaching
out in compassion to others, bringing joy, comfort and healing into people’s
lives. Fasting can be very self-centred, as in the case of the Pharisees who
projected the attitude: ‘See how holy I am!’ (as we saw in the Gospel on Ash
Wednesday). Jesus expects more than that.
But Jesus does say that when the bridegroom is gone, when
Jesus is no longer visibly present, his disciples will fast. At that time, it
will be appropriate to fast as a sign of penance and purification. There is a
place for penitential acts and even asceticism. The Church (and every other
major religion) has recognised that over the centuries.
But it is the reaching out in caring love that is most
important. Without that, fasting has no value.
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Living
Space Friday after Ash Wednesday – Gospel | Sacred Space
Friday, March 7, 2025
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord of the Covenant,
we have not to fear Your judgment if like You we become rich
in mercy and full of compassion for our neighbor. May we not only know that You
ask us but practice with sincere hearts to share our food with the hungry and
to loosen the bonds of injustice, that through us Your light may shine and Your
healing spread far and wide. Be with us in Your goodness. We ask this through
Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading -
Matthew 9: 14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why
do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus
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."
Reflection
Today's Gospel is a brief version of the Gospel which we
already meditated on in January, when the same theme of fasting was proposed to
us (Mk 2: 18-22), but there is a small
difference. Today, the Liturgy omits the whole discourse of the new piece of
cloth on an old cloak and the new wine in an old skin (Mt 9: 16-17) and
concentrates its attention on fasting. Jesus
does not insist on the practice of fasting. Fasting is a very ancient practice and
done in almost all religions. Jesus Himself practiced it during the forty days (Mt
4: 2). But He did not insist His disciples do the same. He leaves them free.
For this reason, the disciples of John the Baptist and of
the Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to know why Jesus does not insist on fasting. While
the bridegroom is with them, they do not need to fast. Jesus responds with a
comparison. When the bridegroom is with the friends of the spouse, that
is, during the wedding feast, it is not necessary for them
to fast. Jesus considers Himself the spouse. The disciples are the friends of
the spouse. The time which Jesus is with the disciples is the wedding feast. The
day will come in which the spouse will no longer be there. Then, they can fast if they so desire. In this
phrase Jesus refers to His death. He knows and He becomes aware that if He continues
along this path of freedom the religious authority will want
to kill Him. Fasting and abstinence from meat are universal practices. The
Muslims have fasting during Ramadan, during which they don’t eat until the rising
of the sun. For diverse reasons, people impose upon themselves some form of
fasting.
Fasting is an important means to control oneself and this
exists in almost all religions. It is also appreciated by those who are health conscious. The Bible has
many references to fasting. It was a way of making penance and of attaining
conversion. Through the practice of fasting, Christians imitated Jesus who
fasted for forty days. Fasting helps to attain the freedom of mind, self-control,
and perhaps a critical vision of reality. It is an instrument to free our mind
and not allow one to be transported by
any breeze. It is a means to take better care of health. Fasting can be a form
of identification with the poor who are obliged to fast the whole year and eat
meat very rarely. There are also those who fast in order to protest.
Even if fasting and abstinence are no longer observed today,
the basic objective of this practice
continues to remain unchanged and is a force which should animate our life:
to participate in the Passion, Death and
Resurrection of Jesus. Surrender one’s own life in order to be able to possess
it in God. Become aware or conscious of the fact that the commitment to the
Gospel is a one-way journey, without returning, which demands losing one’s life
in order to be able to possess and find all things in full liberty.
Personal Questions
• What form of
fasting do you practice? And if you do not practice any, what is the form which you could practice?
• How can fasting
help me to better prepare for the celebration of Easter?
Concluding Prayer
Have mercy on me, O God, in Your faithful love, in Your great tenderness wipe away my
offenses; wash me clean from my guilt, purify me from my sin. (Ps 51: 1-2)
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