HOW DOES FASTING THROUGH THE SEASON OF LENT BENEFIT US AND OTHERS?
What type of fasting does God require? "Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter" (Isa. 58:6-7). Our fasting should increase our spirituality and accelerate our charity. Fasting is about sacrifice. To deny yourself food and drink for certain hours is no mean feat. In our church, we fasted the first seven days, avoiding fish, meat and chicken dishes. We challenged ourselves to have vegetarian meals to break our fasting. It was very daunting: not eating fish, meat, and chicken was rather hard. With determination, we all went through the ordeal. About twenty-three members and visitors on the 24th of February had a wonderful prayer and intercession meeting, which was subsequently followed by a special vegetarian dinner, which was prepared by our lovely sisters. I was amazed by the kind gesture of some of our members who, as part of fasting, used the money that they would have spent on breakfast and lunch to buy enough provisions for the foodbank given to those who are struggling in the community.
Our fasting should help us to respond to the needy. If you are fasting and not going to have breakfast, use the money you could have spent on breakfast as a gift for any charity of your choice. We could utilize the season of Lent to connect with others to pray for specific or general issues. Find a prayer partner to pray with. How many books of the Bible have you read thoroughly? We could challenge ourselves to spend 30 minutes each day to read a passage of scripture. You could start reading your Bible by trying to read one chapter a day.
We have five weeks of Lenten prayer and Meditation which started on the 18th of February from 11.00 - 11.45 am. It is going on very well at the moment. The theme for the Lent reflection is: "Calling on God in our time of need." You can come along every Tuesday of
Page 8
the week. Let us use every opportunity in the season of Lent to reach out to those in our community with the message of love and the salvation that Jesus Christ offers to all.