After a Jewish wedding, the couples do not go away for honeymoon, instead they stay at home. For a week there is a continual feasting and rejoicing. It was the happiest moment in man’s life. There was a rabbinic ruling which said, “All attendance on the bridegroom is relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.” The wedding guests were supposed to be exempted from all fasting.

Furthermore, Jewish religion taught that there was only one day that you were obliged to fast – the Day of Atonement. It was the day when the nation confessed their sins and they were forgiven. But the stricter Jews, like the Pharisees, fast twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, and it lasts from 6 am to 6pm. They do more than what was required and then they expect others to do the same. Jesus was not against fasting; in fact he encourages it. The problem with Pharisees was that their fasting was for self-display. It was to call the attention of men by their whitened faces and disheveled garments so that no one could miss the fact that they were fasting.

Jesus wanted them to have a deeper understanding of fasting not simply as a public act of self control but more of an expression of love for God. We can do it by turning away from a sinful way of life and by starting a new relationship with God. That’s why he used “new wine” as the symbol for “new relationship” and the wineskin as us, being the recipients of his “renewed love.”

Sometimes saying “no” is the best thing to do. We have to be careful with our daily decisions because this world is filled with deceptions. This world often tempts us to taste its sweetness only to find out at the end that we can not give it up anymore. We should be the one in control of the world and not the world controlling us. And fasting is the best way to practice it. If we can not even say “no” to simple things such as missing a meal or not eating meat at least for 1 day, then how can we say “no” to other big things that this world offers? 

Fasting is the best tool against corruption. This world teaches us to be greedy by urging us to get more than what we need. Many politicians and businessmen are already rich and yet they still want to get more (even if it is already illegal). Many corruptions happen because “we want more” than our salary. Fasting teaches us to “be poor” and “simple” and be satisfied with what we have, so that we do not look for things beyond our means. On the other hand, I hope also that whatever sacrifices (fasting and abstinence) we make for this Lent we offer it for someone who might be sick or in need of something. I hope we find profound meaning in fasting by doing it not out of fear but out of love.

There are things that can not be patched any more. There is a danger of sewing a new patch on the old garment. When the new garment becomes wet it shrinks, and being much stronger than the old, it tears the old apart. There comes a time when the day of patching is over and re-creating a new one must begin. For the sake of friendship, sometimes we want to cover some scandals of our friends, but when their mistakes become a pattern and they have no sense of guilt anymore, there comes a time when patching can not be done anymore. To build a genuine relationship it takes a complete abandonment of the old life so that a new kind person can begin.