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An All-Encompassing Fast

Fasting as both a spiritual as well as physical action in the Christian Orthodox Tradition. Orthodox Theology by Fr. Christofóros Schuff π. Χριστοφόρος Σουφ

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Rev. Fr. Christofóros Schuff
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115 views3 pages

An All-Encompassing Fast

Fasting as both a spiritual as well as physical action in the Christian Orthodox Tradition. Orthodox Theology by Fr. Christofóros Schuff π. Χριστοφόρος Σουφ

Uploaded by

Rev. Fr. Christofóros Schuff
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING FAST

As we prepare for a period of communal fasting, allow me to share a few thoughts


on the importance of having a proper understanding of self-denial as more than a
self-centred experiment in endurance or a method of trumpeting one’s own piety.
Please accept these words as from a man who is continually attempting to come to
grips with his own selfishness and shortcomings in truly living out his faith.

SELF-DENIAL? WHAT’S THE POINT?


While wearing nice clothes, living in relative comfort or eating choice foods are not in
and of themselves negative things, our Christian tradition has also encouraged us to
willingly at times deny ourselves these comforts. This is not because being warm or
well fed is a sin, but we must keep in mind that excesses of these things lead to
lethargy and eventually to sin. And what is sin...? Answer: To know what is right and to
not do it. 1

From the earliest years of Christianity some believers began to live in communities
where not only the needs of the body were taken care of but also the needs of the
soul.2 Some were called to higher forms of fasting and self-denial and this communal
life allowed some to dedicate themselves to intercessory prayer, fasting and service.
Through work, prayer and at times self-imposed discomfort3, God revealed His love,
grace and truth in and through them. Some of these first ascetics are collectively
known today as the mothers and fathers of the Church. These ideals however are not
only for some romanticized past, but also for those living in modern society.

SELF-INDULGENCE: THE TRAP OF CONSUMERISM


In our present situation we are becoming more and more aware of the negative
effects of many commercial types of farming and industry as well as the presence of
slave-type labour and underpaid workforces. When we support these structures in
our consumerism, we are participating in the abuse and oppression of other human-
beings which God created in His image.4 We have been called not only to self-denial
for the sake of our own souls, but also for the salvation of others and in keeping with
the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves.

EXILE
Another aspect of self-denial may be the call to identify with the poor, the down-
trodden and the refugee. Some Christians through the centuries have been called to
live here-and-now as though in exile. For are we not all foreigners in some way?5

1
Cf. St. James 4,17. Also: St. Matthew 25,45.
2
Cf. Acts 4,32 – 35.
3
Cf. 1st Corinthians 9,24 – 27.
4
Cf. Genesis 1,26 – 27.
5
Cf. 1st Peter 2,11 & Hebrews 11,13. While Christians are foreigners on the earth, all are fellow citizens within
the Church, cf. Ephesians 2,19.
Again, in the world today, we know of millions of displaced refugees who wander
with all they now own on their backs, hoping to someday find a home. Many of them
will never return to where they fled from. Have we not seen the pictures of the
families, the orphans, the childless mothers and the widows as they wander along
some lonely road? Their clothes are torn and many times modern footwear is absent.
Most of us will hopefully never have this forced upon us! Is not true religion: to visit
the orphan and the widows and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world...?6

Many of us in the rich part of the world complain rather about the smallest things:
my mobile phone doesn’t work, I don’t like this sauce, I didn’t want onions on my
cheeseburger, I need new shoes and a jacket to match. How can we possibly grasp the
Gospel when this is what we are worried about?7

A TRUE FAST
On the 1st Wednesday of the Holy Lent of Easter in the service of the Vespers, we
sing the following hymn reflecting the Divine truth of Isaiah 58,6:

As we fast bodily brethren, let us also fast spiritually. Let us loose every chain of
injustice. Let us tear asunder agreements which have come about by violence and
every unjust contract. Let us give bread to those who hunger and lead the
homeless poor into houses; that we might receive from Christ God great mercy.8

IDENTIFICATION THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCE


Self-chosen identification with the hungry, the homeless and outcast can be a tool to
bring our focus back to God. The collective experience of the Church has shown this.
The Church thrives in persecution yet many times prosperity leads to staleness.
When we physically live out the experience of poverty and exile, not only do we
discover what the body needs under such circumstances but also what the soul
needs. What if we channelled our hunger into prayer? Or discomfort into
repentance? Is this not what the prophets of old did and did not God reveal Himself
to them? How much more will He not do this for Christians who surrender fully to
Him in all circumstances?9 We want grace but many times seem to forget that faith
and works must be complimentary.10 We want deliverance but forget about fasting
and prayer.11

LIVING SIMPLY
Many of us are afraid to be “extreme”, we don’t want to be laughed at. But why
should we fear doing what is right when the reward we shall reap spiritually

6
Cf. St. James 1,27. See also 3rd John 1,5; Hebrews 13,2; 1st Timothy 5,10.
7
See St. Matthew 6,25 – 26.
8
From the Triodion: Vespers of the 1st Wednesday of Holy Lent.
9
Cf. 2 Corinthians 11, 26 – 28.
10
Cf. St. James 2.
11
Cf. St. Matthew 17,21; St. Mark 9,29; also 1 Corinthians 7,5.
tomorrow is greater than the ridicule we receive today? We don’t even need to
“make a scene”. Many changes we make in our lives may not even be outwardly
noticed or the initial surprise will fade with time. What if we found jobs that we
could stand for morally instead of thinking about our income level and capital? Or
took a vacation for fasting and prayer instead of self-indulgence? Some choices might
be more apparent like: What if we carpooled, rode the bus or biked to work because
we were Christians? What if we walked around without shoes for a day and realized
what it feels like when we judge others because of their appearance? What if we used
the questions of others as platforms for evangelization instead of seeing them as a
hindrance?

LET US BE FOOLS
Let us follow the commandments of Christ and the experience of the Church as we
live as Christians though it makes us out to be fools in the eyes of the world. Let us
live simply as though in exile and still remember that “exile is to control one’s own
tongue”12. For if we cannot control the tongue we can never control the body nor the
soul.13 Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.14

God be gracious to us all!

Fr. Christofóros
sinner and supposed Theologian

12
Apophthegmata patrum: Περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Τιθόη, §2. See: The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, pg. 198.
13
Cf. St. James 1,26 & 3,5 – 8.
14
Cf. 1st John 3,18.

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