FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT - A

FASTING HEALS OUR MIND

Why did Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, the forbidden fruit? Were they hungry?  Were they starving? Were they deprived?

Far from that! Our first parents would seem to be the most fortunate of all human creatures. Look at the first reading (Gen 2 and 3).  They had everything they needed – food, animals, and an opulent space in the garden of the Lord.  They certainly were not deprived of anything, let alone of nourishment and food.

Adam and Eve were not hungry.  No, they were greedy!  Once they learned from the serpent the secret of the tree of life, the tree of knowledge, they were desirous of possessing it, even if they had not need of it.  They were greedy for power, for recognition, for more!

At the start of Lent, we are reminded of a trait we have all inherited from our first parents, that of greed. Most important of all, we are given the solution God proposes to counter this negative and destructive trait.  In Genesis, we see two people who want more, even if they do not need more.  In the Gospel, we see the Lord Jesus hungry for forty days and yet refusing to transform the stones into bread.  “One does not live on bread alone…” (Mt. 4:4)

The solution to our greed is fasting. Fasting heals our mind for greed starts in the mind and not in the stomach.  Our body needs only as much as it truly takes to survive.  But our mind tells us that we cannot be completely happy with just the basics. 

We need that extra burger. We want that extra rice.  We must have the latest Iphone. We must possess the newest Ipad.  We must consume our energy on computer games, cell phone texting, movie marathons and buffet banquets.  We must have all these pleasures in order to be happy.  But do we really need them?  We don’t. It’s plain for all to see. But our mind is commanding us to crave, to salivate for more.

In the fasting of Jesus, we see that even a hungry person can say no to the most delectable feast if the motive is not right, if the occasion is not proper, if the act will run counter to the will of God.

Fasting is therefore not a punishment of the body, a deprivation, a self-inflicted penalty. Fasting is a remedy to correct the mind and to teach us to desire only what is good, necessary and helpful for our neighbor and ourselves.

As we begin this Lent, let us join Jesus in his fasting.  Let us ask ourselves what food, item, commodity or activity, consumes us most and makes us burn with unhealthy desire of greed.  Like Jesus, may we ask the Father to give us the grace to say no to these things that make us slaves, so that we can say yes to freedom, love and service.