Open our eyes.
From today’s Scripture: “‘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.’”—Is 58:6
All the world religions recognize the place and importance of fasting in the lives of its adherents. In our Catholic faith it is not to be valued in itself but rather a way of disciplining our bodies and raising our consciousness to God and opening our eyes and hearts to our neighbor.
In this reading Isaiah is clear that if our fasting does not open our eyes to our neighbor then it is not pleasing to God. Isaiah prefigures the teaching of Jesus and the divine presence in our neighbor and the answer to the question, “who is my neighbor?”
Let us pray: Father, as I fast throughout this Lent, may the absence of food be filled with the presence of you in the hungry, the unhoused, the naked and the forgotten.
Today’s author is Father Dan Dorsey, president of Glenmary Home Missioners.
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