Fausto Gomez OP
Our journey of Lent is a pilgrimage to the joy of Easter. It is a sober journey of conversion that is aided by prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let us reflect on fasting, which entails self-denial and detachment – an ascetical life.
To speak of the need of an ascetic life today is generally considered old-fashioned and medieval. From my experience and others’, I am firmly convinced that a selfish and consumerist life, contributes to a mediocre Christian life, including consecrated life. Lent reminds us again of our need of an ascetic life, if we truly want to follow Jesus as our Way, which also entails his Way of the Cross.
To speak of the ascetic dimension of our life is to speak of our spiritual/moral life, which was earlier called ascetic and mystical life. The ascetic leads to the mystical life, to the intimate loving union with God, to the holiness all Christians are called. It leads, for sure, to happiness here and hereafter.
Wise words from philosopher Socrates: “How can you call a man free when his pleasures rule over him?” Not to be led by their passions and addictions, humans need ascesis. Christians, in particular, are asked to follow the way of Jesus, who says:
“If any want to be my followers let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23; Mt 16:24, Mk 8:34).
(1) “DENY YOURSELF” – Self-denial is a necessary element of our behaviour as followers of Jesus. St Paul tells us: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things…; I discipline my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming it to others I myself should not be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:25-27). Jesus’ words: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (Jn 8:34).
The human person must deny himself or herself. What does this mean? “Peter once denied his Lord, that is to say, he said of Jesus, ‘I do not know the man.’ To deny ourselves is to say, ‘I do not know myself.’ It is to ignore the very existence of oneself… Usually, we treat ourselves as if our self was far and away the most important thing in the world. If we are to follow Jesus, we must forget that self exists” (W. Barclay, In Lk 9:23-27). Helpful means: detachment and a simple life style – and fasting.
(2) BE DETACHED AND LIVE SIMPLY – For Eckhart to be detached means “living among things, but not in things.” Hence, the importance of an ascetic life (cf. Laudato Si’, 9). Aids to an ascetic life are the traditional penances of the Christian, namely, prayer that leads to fasting, and fasting to almsgiving.
Fasting today? Yes. If properly done, it is helpful to become detached of the unnecessary things that burden our soul and to share something with the poor. But like mortification, detachment and renunciation, fasting is a means not an end: a means toward the acquisition of virtues and the eradication of vices. Indeed, “Fasting … is properly exercised for the sake of acquiring purity of heart and body so that the stings of the flesh might be dulled and a peaceful mind reconciled to its Creator”; on the other hand, fasting “when it is done inopportunely it ruins the soul” (Cassian, Conferences). In a word, fasting, mortification, ascetism are good means if they help us to love – and love more.
Need of a simple lifestyle. Let us “live lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly” (Tit 2:12). To fight a selfish consumerist attitude, Patriarch Bartholomew recommends ascetism, that is, “a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs; it is liberation from greed and consumption” (cf. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, 9).
The ethical person, the Christian needs to live a simple lifestyle that practices and promotes genuine values and virtues. Among the great values found in religions are “Renunciation, detachment, humility, simplicity and silence” (St. John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia, 23). Simplicity: the essence of simplicity is, theologian Leslie Hardin tells us, “A focus on God’s kingdom”: first is the kingdom (Mt 6:33). Simplicity aids us to attain harmony in our own selves: “The body under the spirit and the spirit under God” (St Augustine).
(3) “TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY” – The cross of Christ is an inexhaustible source of continuing meditation. No wonder, that for the saints – the truly happy ones – when the cross comes, it is the Lord who comes! Thus, the saints not only bore their personal cross patiently and joyfully, they helped others carry their cross. Let us not give crosses to others but help them carry their heavy cross.
The saints love to contemplate Jesus on the Cross: Christ on the cross in San Damiano asked Francis of Assisi to restore his Church. St. Thomas Aquinas, for whom the cross is the example of all the virtues, heard from Jesus crucified on the cross these words: “You have written well of me. What do you want from me?” After that vision, St. Thomas stopped writing and evaluated all he had written as straw. Therefore, Kempis advises us, “Practice daily mortifications that you may become closer in spirit to your crucified saviour” (Imitation of Christ).
(4) FOLLOW CHRIST – Why deny our own self? Why a detached and simple life style? Why carry the cross patiently? Because these help us immensely to follow Christ truly and joyfully – to be happy!
“We are heirs of the Crucified Lord” (St. Augustine). Following Jesus entails to renounce ourselves. It demands from us totake up our personal cross: the daily trials and work, sickness, failure, a death in the family… It implies, above all, to love God, ourselves, all neighbours and God’s creation. The Cross is part of life, but not the whole life: the key word of life is not the cross but love, which aids us to carry our cross.
Finally, we always pray for continuing conversion through penance.Prayer helps us encounter and follow Jesus, who keeps telling us:
“I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).