{"id":477,"date":"2016-02-09T20:51:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T01:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/?p=477"},"modified":"2016-02-09T20:51:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T01:51:49","slug":"are-you-taking-your-cue-from-twitters-lent-tracker-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pitstopforthespirituallybamboozled\/2016\/02\/are-you-taking-your-cue-from-twitters-lent-tracker-this-year.html","title":{"rendered":"Are You Taking Your Cue From Twitter’s Lent Tracker This Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Lent\"<\/a>Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent, a\u00a0penitential period<\/a>\u00a0of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for Christians worldwide. Fasting also happens to be one of the\u00a0Five Pillars of Islam<\/a>, and is practiced faithfully by Muslims during\u00a0Ramadan<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a period lasting up to 354 days a year.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the deal with fasting<\/strong>? Does it make us holier, thinner, or grumpier?<\/p>\n

Possibly all three depending on our disposition. However, I believe the key to its sanctifying virtue is, not so much the weight loss or the self-mastery, but the\u00a0conversion of heart<\/b>\u00a0that the discipline will hopefully engender in our spiritual life and practice.<\/p>\n

So no awards for those of us who come out the other end of Lent 20 lbs lighter, with a reduced craving for candy, and surplus cash due to walking past \u2013 rather than into \u2013 Starbucks on the way to work. No awards, that is unless our fasting is somehow linked to a fundamental change<\/strong> in our spiritual and moral outlook on life.<\/p>\n

So for those who are taking their lead from the\u00a0Twitter Lent Tracker<\/a>, which includes everything from Twitter itself, Instagram and beer, to sex, chocolate, Netflix and marijuana, my advice is: forget it, let\u2019s get serious about what we are doing here.<\/p>\n

Last year Pope Francis\u00a0asked us<\/a>\u00a0to reconsider the essential purpose of fasting during Lent. According to Francis, fasting must never become superficial. In the words of the early Christian mystic\u00a0John Chrysostom<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It really comes down to understanding the penitential aspect of Lent and applying it in a way \"child-774063_640\"<\/a>that exemplifies its true value. Francis\u00a0reminds us<\/a>\u00a0that our offerings need to enrich the quality of life of others. In his words, \u201cI distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

His Holiness\u2019\u00a0advice<\/a>\u00a0for Lent is that even more than candy or alcohol, we fast from indifference towards others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Describing what he calls the\u00a0globalization of indifference<\/strong>, Francis notes that . .<\/p>\n

\u201cwhenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God\u2019s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people\u2019s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else\u2019s responsibility and not our own.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhat are you giving up for Lent?\u201d If you want to shrink your waistline, abstinence from carbs, candy, and alcohol will do it. But if you desire a\u00a0conversion of heart<\/b>, a more spiritually refined fast is called for. One that reawakens compassion for others, service to the needy, and a renewed attention to our interior life.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that worth fasting for?<\/p>\n

Photo Inserts: Wikipedia Commons<\/a> \/ Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent, a\u00a0penitential period\u00a0of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for Christians worldwide. Fasting also happens to be one of the\u00a0Five Pillars of Islam, and is practiced faithfully by Muslims during\u00a0Ramadan\u00a0\u2013 a period lasting up to 354 days a year. So what\u2019s the deal with fasting? 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