Why Catholics, Christians fast during Lent, and how practices have changed
Editor's note: Fasting in Faith is an occasional series exploring the practice of fasting as a spiritual exercise common to many religious traditions.
Suburban Catholics and many Christians have gone from gorging on paczkis on Fat Tuesday to observing meatless Fridays during the most blessed period of their religious calendar - Lent.
The 40-day season began with Ash Wednesday on March 6 and ends Thursday, April 18. It involves a tradition of fasting, almsgiving and prayer culminating with the observances of Good Friday and Easter, marking the resurrection of Jesus.
Believers have observed two types of fasts during Lent - the “total fast” preceding all major feasts or sacramental events, and abstinence from certain foods, such as meats or fats dairy, and giving up vices, such as alcohol, tobacco, chocolate, gossiping and swearing.
A more contemporary take is less about food and more about temporarily swearing off entertainment and social media, such as Snapchat, Instagram or Twitter, said Margaret Smith, 17, a senior at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein.
“It's mostly about fasting from distractions,” Smith said of her generation. “I have fasted from Netflix, social media and television because that is a way for me to give back time to God that I feel is helpful for my walk of life. Instead of just filling any free time that I have with just mindless consumption, I can use that time to reflect, work or do something more productive. That's what resonates more with me.”
Keeping the faith
Fasting during Lent aims to help the believer achieve self-discipline and self-control, similar to Jewish, Islamic and several other religious traditions where it is prescribed.
Catholic practice has evolved and somewhat relaxed over the centuries, said Don Grossnickle, senior deacon at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church in Arlington Heights.
“It's your second attempt after having failed the diet aspirations of the New Year to get on a healthy pathway,” Grossnickle joked. “Scripturally, we know that Jesus went into the desert, showed us by example what might be benefited from getting away from the norm.”
Grossnickle said believers are called to retreat from the trappings of daily living during Lent in their own way.
The injunction of fasting begins at age 14. Abstinence and fasting are requirements on Fridays during Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, per church doctrine. But in the past it was common for Catholics and Orthodox Christians to abstain from eating meat on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year.
Grossnickle, 70, lamented fewer Catholics adhere to these traditions today and that old-timers view relaxed observation of Christian discipline as a sign of the times. Many Catholics today align more with giving to charity during Lent rather than food abstinence, he said.
“We are falling short,” he said, emphasizing the spirit of Lent is sacrifice. “This really reduces down to a question of how good are you at making disciplined choices. It's 40 days of taking a break from business as usual and trying to reformalize.”
Turning toward light
For many, Lent is a time of renewal of faith, life and new beginnings - a harbinger of spring.
“Lent is not a dark time for me at all. It's a time of getting ready,” said Grossnickle, who volunteers more during this period for church activities, such as leading scripture circles and international mission work. “The larger picture is a word that people don't like to think about - repentance, which is turning away from that which is darkened and not good for you and toward something that is bright and positive. Lent is a time to stay fully alive.”
Fighting temptations, such as addictions, is among the goals, which fasting helps accomplish by breaking bad habits that are physically and spiritually harmful, practitioners say.
“That's the whole point of Lent, catching yourself before it's too late,” Grossnickle said.
Ultimately, fasting and abstinence are acts of submission to God and a means to righting that relationship with the creator and with the community, said Christopher Robinson, a Catholic priest and adjunct professor of religious studies at DePaul University.
Robinson said the two sides to Lent are purification - suppressing one's appetite through discipline and meditation - and penance as a means of drawing closer to God.
“Your hunger reminds you that God is the most important thing,” he said. “The other part is more philosophical and almost existential. We share this with a lot of religions, like Islam. The idea of fasting reminds you that you are dependent on your creator, reminds you of your hunger and thirst for God who made you.”
7 reasons for fasting in Christian tradition
Catholics are required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent. In the early church, there were two fasts: the “total fast” preceding all major feasts or sacramental events, and abstinence from certain foods.
• From the beginning, God commanded some fasting, and sin entered into the world because Adam and Eve broke the fast.
• For the Christian, fasting is ultimately about fasting from sin.
• Fasting reveals our dependence on God and not the resources of this world.
• Fasting is an ancient way of preparing for the Eucharist — the truest of foods.
• Fasting is preparation for baptism (and all the sacraments) — for the reception of grace.
• Fasting is a means of saving resources to give to the poor.
• Fasting is a means of self-discipline, chastity and the restraining of the appetites.
Source: the Rev. Daniel Merz, former associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Divine Worship office.