Fasting 021: Fasting for non-monastics, part 1

This is an updated version of a talk originally given at the Western American Diocese Pastoral Conference in San Francisco, CA, 18 March 2014

I was asked to deliver this talk more than a decade ago, and much has changed since then. Many of my original ideas are now modified and informed by additional research and personal experience. I feel that some of the sections in this talk should be taken out altogether, but I will attempt to re-write them in a way that both preserves the original structure of the talk and is agreeable with my present views. Other parts are perhaps a bit tedious and boring, but it is my hope that some of the information will prove useful to those interested in the topic of fasting.

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INTRODUCTION

A curious phenomenon can be observed in the interactions between pastors and their parishioners at the beginning of each major fast of the Church. Pastors attempt to call their parishioners’ pious attention to the spiritual heights of fasting: the fighting against sin, the conquering of passions, the taming of the tongue, the cultivation of virtues. In turn, parishioners pester their pastors with purely dietary questions: when fish is allowed, whether soy milk or soy hotdogs are Lenten foods, whether adding milk to coffee breaks the fast, or whether there is some dispensation that can be given to the young, the elderly, those who study, those who work, women, men, travelers, the sick, or those who simply do not feel well. In response to the overwhelming preoccupation with dietary rules to the detriment of the spiritual significance of fasting, some pastors - seemingly out of frustration - began to propose in sermons and internet articles that dietary rules are not important at all: if you want yogurt during Lent, just have some as long as you do not gossip; if you want a hamburger, then eat one, as long as you do not devour a fellow human being by judging and backstabbing. Unfortunately, such advice rarely helps eradicate gossip, judging, or backstabbing. Rather, it seems to confuse people into thinking that since they have not yet conquered these and many other vices in their hearts, they do not have to fast from hamburger either. Thus, it seems important to discuss the very topic which fascinates so many lay people: what the fasting rules are and how they are to be followed by those who have not taken the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.