Thursday, March 02, 2006
First Friday Fast
Friday after Ash Wednesday
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030306.shtml
Reflection:
Based upon both the Isaiah reading and Matthew's Gospel we can't ignore the fact that today we should think about what we have given up for lent as we hit the first Friday – abstaining from meat. (By the way, if you are living in an area of the world were Muskrat is a staple part of your diet, you should know that, according to the Church, Muskrat is a fish.(?) I found that amusing.) All joking aside, Isaiah does a nice job of defining the reasons and attitudes for fasting. These same reasons and attitudes work well for our little sacrifices during lent.
Although one might think, based upon Jesus' comments in the Gospel, that he is against fasting all together, it is clear from the context of who his audience is that this is not exactly true. He is not in favor of the pompous piety of the Pharisees. He speaks of his time with the disciples as one of joy and not the right time for fasting.
Notice something in Isaiah – he is not talking about just a fast – he's telling the people that a true day acceptable to the Lord is one in which we do something positive for our brothers and sisters. He speaks of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.
"Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own."
He strikes to the heart of our Lenten philosophy. It is not just giving up chocolate or sweets. It is giving something much more dear to us – our time and effort. Take time away from what we enjoy and give it to those who need our help, our example.
I've said it before – the road of Lent is difficult. Pax
If you wish to comment and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture from Is 58:1-9a
Jerome Biblical Commentary
1 1 Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 2 They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God.
3 "Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?" Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers.
1 [1] This command is directed to the prophet.
2 [2-14] Merely external worship does not avail with God; it must be joined to internal sincerity.
. 58:1-14: The second in this series of post-exilic poems answers questions about fasting. The practice reaches far back into Israelite history; it was invoked for times of bereavement (2 Sm 1 :12; 3 :35) and national sorrow (Jos 7:6; Jgs 20:26). Fasting days naturally multiplied as sorrow abounded. Fasting commemorated the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, the breach in the
walls, the destruction of the city, and the assassination of Gedaliah (Zech '7:1-5; 8:18-19). Ezekiel (45:20) and Nehemiah (9 :1) witness to the effort of concentrating on one great day of fasting, which was eventually placed on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lv 16). (See De Vaux, AI 507-10.) Priests continued to call extraordinary fasts (JI).
1-3b. full-throated: The dry climate of the ancient Near East has imparted a heavy, guttural sound to all Semitic languages. Deep tones prevent the expression of surprise, scorn, or anger from being mistaken for spite or exhaustion. The long, meditative spirit of the desert enables the prophet-preacher to draw upon earlier prophetic traditions: Is 18:3; Mi 3:8; Ez 33:1-20. The people feel so proud of their piety that they challenge the Prophet to point out what they are doing incorrectly!
4 Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!
5 Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;
3c-7. The Hebr words for "fast" (sòm) and "day" (yòm) sound almost alike.
Tr-Is lampoons the idea that man's activity in fasting could turn this day into one of divine salvation (49:6; 61:2; Lk 41 :18). Fasting should unite rich and poor, so that all taste the dust out of which each was made (Gn 3 :19). Only the wealthy can fast; they alone have something of which to deprive themselves. In fasting, they share the lot of the poor who are always hungry. To fast and yet neglect the poor is a perverted form of conceit.
7 Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
7. sharing your bread: Lit., "breaking your bread" (cf. Acts 2 :46; Mk 6 :41; 14 :22). Matthew (25:31-46) makes the eschatological judgment depend upon the kindly acts of charity mentioned here.
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
8-12. The Prophet's thoughts expand to include the eschatological day. When lowliness unites all men, then will God fill this need of the whole world with his glorious presence. The final age will then have come. 8. your vindication: Cf. 40:14; 54:14,17.
Scripture from Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
Jerome Biblical Commentary
3 Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.
4 Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
Ps 51. An individual lament, in sorrow for sin. Ps 5 I is the fourth and the most famous of the penitential Pss. There is no indication that it was uttered by David after his sin with Bathsheba (cf. title). Perhaps the most striking emphasis is placed on the awfulness of sin itself; the author cannot rest until it is forgiven. (For details, cf. E. Dalglish, Psalm Fifty-One in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Patternism [Leiden, 1962].) Structure: 3-4, appeal for mercy; 5-8, confession of sinfulness; 9-14, request for cleansing, for heart and spirit; 15-19, a vow and assurance of special sacrifice; 20-21, a prayer for Jerusalem. Life setting: The prayer is composed by a sinner, who feels the weight of his sins more than his sickness (10); one may detect in 19 the influence of Jeremiah (spirit) and the prophets (sacrifice of a contrite heart). 3-4. The entire complaint (9, 12-15) is permeated with the desire to be completely purified of sin (cf. metaphors, "wash," etc.).
5 For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.
6 Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight (Omitted-That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.)
6. The quotation marks in the CCD indicate that this verse is his acknowledgment of his sin as an offence against God (not just against man). He proclaims his wrongdoing as a justification of God's sentence against him.
18 4 For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
19 My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
4 [18] For you do not desire sacrifice: the mere offering of the ritual sacrifice apart from good dispositions is not acceptable to God. Cf Psalm 50.
18-19. An unusual idea, influenced by prophetic teaching: He himself, contrite, is the victim.
Scripture from Mt 9:14-15
Jerome Biblical Commentary
14 Then the disciples of John approached him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?"
(j) FASTING (9 :14-17). In Mt the question is asked by the disciples of John; in Mk and Lk the questioners are not identified. Fasting was a recognized Jewish observance (? 45 above) that was not practiced by Jesus and his disciples.
15 Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 11
11 [15] Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew's church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1.
15. can wedding guests mourn: The question is answered by a saying; possibly the form of the saying is influenced by the fact that fasting was observed in the primitive community. The saying affirms that the sojourn of Jesus with his disciples is considered a time of joy when fasting (or other symbols of grief or mourning) is out of place. Jesus does not reject fasting as such, but asserts the liberty of fasting when it is suitable; he obviously does not regard the Pharisaic customs as obligatory. The comparison of the messianic advent to a wedding festival is found also in 22 :1-14; 25 :1-13; Ap 19 :7-8; these passages, however, are explicitly eschatological. The joy of the eschatological festival is not limited to the end time; it begins with the coming of him who is the bridegroom.
First Friday Fast
Friday after Ash Wednesday
http://www.usccb.org/nab/030306.shtml
Reflection:
Based upon both the Isaiah reading and Matthew's Gospel we can't ignore the fact that today we should think about what we have given up for lent as we hit the first Friday – abstaining from meat. (By the way, if you are living in an area of the world were Muskrat is a staple part of your diet, you should know that, according to the Church, Muskrat is a fish.(?) I found that amusing.) All joking aside, Isaiah does a nice job of defining the reasons and attitudes for fasting. These same reasons and attitudes work well for our little sacrifices during lent.
Although one might think, based upon Jesus' comments in the Gospel, that he is against fasting all together, it is clear from the context of who his audience is that this is not exactly true. He is not in favor of the pompous piety of the Pharisees. He speaks of his time with the disciples as one of joy and not the right time for fasting.
Notice something in Isaiah – he is not talking about just a fast – he's telling the people that a true day acceptable to the Lord is one in which we do something positive for our brothers and sisters. He speaks of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.
"Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own."
He strikes to the heart of our Lenten philosophy. It is not just giving up chocolate or sweets. It is giving something much more dear to us – our time and effort. Take time away from what we enjoy and give it to those who need our help, our example.
I've said it before – the road of Lent is difficult. Pax
If you wish to comment and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture from Is 58:1-9a
Jerome Biblical Commentary
1 1 Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 2 They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God.
3 "Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?" Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers.
1 [1] This command is directed to the prophet.
2 [2-14] Merely external worship does not avail with God; it must be joined to internal sincerity.
. 58:1-14: The second in this series of post-exilic poems answers questions about fasting. The practice reaches far back into Israelite history; it was invoked for times of bereavement (2 Sm 1 :12; 3 :35) and national sorrow (Jos 7:6; Jgs 20:26). Fasting days naturally multiplied as sorrow abounded. Fasting commemorated the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, the breach in the
walls, the destruction of the city, and the assassination of Gedaliah (Zech '7:1-5; 8:18-19). Ezekiel (45:20) and Nehemiah (9 :1) witness to the effort of concentrating on one great day of fasting, which was eventually placed on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lv 16). (See De Vaux, AI 507-10.) Priests continued to call extraordinary fasts (JI).
1-3b. full-throated: The dry climate of the ancient Near East has imparted a heavy, guttural sound to all Semitic languages. Deep tones prevent the expression of surprise, scorn, or anger from being mistaken for spite or exhaustion. The long, meditative spirit of the desert enables the prophet-preacher to draw upon earlier prophetic traditions: Is 18:3; Mi 3:8; Ez 33:1-20. The people feel so proud of their piety that they challenge the Prophet to point out what they are doing incorrectly!
4 Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!
5 Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;
3c-7. The Hebr words for "fast" (sòm) and "day" (yòm) sound almost alike.
Tr-Is lampoons the idea that man's activity in fasting could turn this day into one of divine salvation (49:6; 61:2; Lk 41 :18). Fasting should unite rich and poor, so that all taste the dust out of which each was made (Gn 3 :19). Only the wealthy can fast; they alone have something of which to deprive themselves. In fasting, they share the lot of the poor who are always hungry. To fast and yet neglect the poor is a perverted form of conceit.
7 Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.
7. sharing your bread: Lit., "breaking your bread" (cf. Acts 2 :46; Mk 6 :41; 14 :22). Matthew (25:31-46) makes the eschatological judgment depend upon the kindly acts of charity mentioned here.
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
8-12. The Prophet's thoughts expand to include the eschatological day. When lowliness unites all men, then will God fill this need of the whole world with his glorious presence. The final age will then have come. 8. your vindication: Cf. 40:14; 54:14,17.
Scripture from Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
Jerome Biblical Commentary
3 Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.
4 Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
Ps 51. An individual lament, in sorrow for sin. Ps 5 I is the fourth and the most famous of the penitential Pss. There is no indication that it was uttered by David after his sin with Bathsheba (cf. title). Perhaps the most striking emphasis is placed on the awfulness of sin itself; the author cannot rest until it is forgiven. (For details, cf. E. Dalglish, Psalm Fifty-One in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Patternism [Leiden, 1962].) Structure: 3-4, appeal for mercy; 5-8, confession of sinfulness; 9-14, request for cleansing, for heart and spirit; 15-19, a vow and assurance of special sacrifice; 20-21, a prayer for Jerusalem. Life setting: The prayer is composed by a sinner, who feels the weight of his sins more than his sickness (10); one may detect in 19 the influence of Jeremiah (spirit) and the prophets (sacrifice of a contrite heart). 3-4. The entire complaint (9, 12-15) is permeated with the desire to be completely purified of sin (cf. metaphors, "wash," etc.).
5 For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.
6 Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight (Omitted-That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.)
6. The quotation marks in the CCD indicate that this verse is his acknowledgment of his sin as an offence against God (not just against man). He proclaims his wrongdoing as a justification of God's sentence against him.
18 4 For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
19 My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
4 [18] For you do not desire sacrifice: the mere offering of the ritual sacrifice apart from good dispositions is not acceptable to God. Cf Psalm 50.
18-19. An unusual idea, influenced by prophetic teaching: He himself, contrite, is the victim.
Scripture from Mt 9:14-15
Jerome Biblical Commentary
14 Then the disciples of John approached him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?"
(j) FASTING (9 :14-17). In Mt the question is asked by the disciples of John; in Mk and Lk the questioners are not identified. Fasting was a recognized Jewish observance (? 45 above) that was not practiced by Jesus and his disciples.
15 Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 11
11 [15] Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew's church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1.
15. can wedding guests mourn: The question is answered by a saying; possibly the form of the saying is influenced by the fact that fasting was observed in the primitive community. The saying affirms that the sojourn of Jesus with his disciples is considered a time of joy when fasting (or other symbols of grief or mourning) is out of place. Jesus does not reject fasting as such, but asserts the liberty of fasting when it is suitable; he obviously does not regard the Pharisaic customs as obligatory. The comparison of the messianic advent to a wedding festival is found also in 22 :1-14; 25 :1-13; Ap 19 :7-8; these passages, however, are explicitly eschatological. The joy of the eschatological festival is not limited to the end time; it begins with the coming of him who is the bridegroom.
posted by Deacon Jim | 12:37 PM
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