Day 5 of Ignatian Reflection and Prayer #MAGIS

     July 5, 2014 - Matthew 9:14-17 - Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Reflection:

The Gospel of Matthew 9:14-17 talks about the Pharisees and the disciples of John who fasted in mourning because they didn’t believe that God’s promise would be fulfilled.  For the believers and followers of Christ, fasting is done because God’s promise of a Messiah has been fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Fasting is an act of  willing abstinence or reduction from a certain food, indulgence or hobby for the purification of the soul to experience heaven while on earth and at the same time to prepare for the second coming of Christ.

        In our present context, we fast for many different reasons.  St. Ignatius of Loyola  taught the whole world on how to fast from worldly desires.  He gave up his worldly possessions and powers in front of the Our Lady of Montserrat for him to completely dedicate his whole life in doing his best for the kingdom of God.  Giving up of something that separates us from our God is, to me, what makes fasting most meaningful.  This is another form of doing  “MAGIS”.  In fact, may be  considered as magis in a higher degree.   The deliberate and prayer –laden deprivation of self  of  the standards of the world was a choice Ignatius had that made him free. He did so to glorify God.

        The struggle of fasting from worldly standards is an experience I am facing every day.  Conversely, I occasionally  succumb to the temptations and enjoyment that  the gratification of the appetite usually bring.  The power and fame I usually desire bring me defeats leading to the feeling of dissatisfaction and sadness. Oftentimes, principles are bent, plans are changed and wrong choices are downplayed because I am overwhelmed by the temporary joy these choices offer. I am always challenged to do magis through abstinence of unnecessary things in everything I do in order to put order and peace to my life. 

The specific call of fasting that I am confronted  every day is on the use of media and gadgets.  I have been so caught up of these that I fail to beat deadlines and do my duties and responsibilities. As a result, work piles up that it seem it will take me forever to finish.  I know that my problems and difficulties are my own doing - of not doing what is right in the right place, right time and right manner. 

Discipline and self-control are keys  to achieve my hopes, desires and plans that will surely bring me happiness.  I firmly believe that genuine experiences of happiness are little heavens on earth.  I know that Jesus is keeping me always through the person of St. Ignatius of Loyola who brought many of these little heavens to my life by constantly reminding me of observing fasting and abstinence in the way I live my life everyday - the way I think, the way say/ utter words and the way I do things.

Abstinence is one of the investments every person has to work on to attain the ultimate goal and purpose in life which is to know, to love and to serve for God’s greater honor and glory.

Reflection Questions:

1.  How do Jesus and St. Ignatius teach you about fasting and abstinence ?

2.  What are you willing to abstain and invest to attain your goal in life?

  









Shared by Divina Jadraque   

  Grade 8 CLE Teacher 

Please join us again tomorrow for another day of reflection and prayer and find our inner Iggy.  #Magis