JESUS ATE NOTHING DURING HIS 40 DAYS IN THE DESERT. HE STRENGTHENED HIS SPIRIT AND WAS ABLE TO DEFEAT SATAN IN THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE THAT FOLLOWED.

"The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” 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.”  (Matthew 9 : 14 - 15)

Friday 4th March 2022, Friday after Ash Wednesday is the feast of St Casimir (1458 - 1484). Son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Lithuania. Casimir stayed away from the court life. His siblings, the princes and princesses were not interested in religion.  His faith and piety shone out. Casimir had a great devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary. St Casimir is the patron saint of Poland.

The short Gospel of today deals with fasting. Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving are the 3 pillars of Christian spiritual life.
What is your attitude about fasting? Do you fast? How often? What do you fast from?

On the three pillars of the spiritual life, the Church teaches:
CCC 1434: "The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: efforts at reconciliation with one’s neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one’s neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity “which covers a multitude of sins.”

Fasting is indispensable for a healthy spiritual life. No one should be dispensed from fasting because all fasting is not fasting from food. Some people cannot fast from food for health reasons. But they can abstain from meat and alcohol on Friday and Wednesday. Others abstain from television, texting, movies and gambling. Fasting is a sign that one is serious about his spiritual life.

"One does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4: 4).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com

"Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
"Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Luke 9: 22 - 25).

Thursday 3rd March 2022, Thursday after Ash Wednesday is the feast of St Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955), Virgin and Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She was a generous philanthropist. Katharine was a wealthy heiress from the rich and famous family of the Philadelphia society. She realized that it profits her nothing to gain the whole world and put her eternal destiny in jeopardy. She listened to the Call of Jesus Christ to teach the message of the Gospel and bring the Eucharist to African-American and Native American people in the South of the United States. In 1915, Katharine founded the Xavier University in New Orleans. At her death in 1955, over 500 of her sisters were teaching in 63 schools.

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must take up his cross daily and follow Me.
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  (Luke 9: 22 ).

At the beginning of Lent 2022, we hear Jesus speaking of the absolute necessity and the inevitability of His suffering.   Why is the Spirit giving us this Scripture now?  Consider these reasons:

#1.  Are you fully aware of the power of the cross and the necessity of your own suffering?
#2.  No following of Christ without some type of suffering.  Rejection of the cross is rejection of Jesus Christ.  (Pope Benedict XVI).
#3.  The Son of Man must suffer before His glorification.  (Luke 24: 26).  What is a divine necessity for Jesus is true for us.

Saints Therese of the Child Jesus, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Thomas Aquinas, Peter Canisius are some of the 37 Doctors of the Church. They are all great men and women who taught the truth of the faith with clarity, simplicity and integrity. They added nothing of their own and were all subject to the Magisterium of the Church. They showed us by example how to live the Christian life.  They all suffered physical, emotional and spiritual pains.   Each one of them accomplished their destiny in spite of their terrible sufferings.

Our suffering is blessing in disguise.  No cross, no crown.
So at the beginning of Lent 2022,  the mystery and contradiction of the cross is set before us.

The follower of Jesus Christ whose desire is to do the will of God is destined for rejection, suffering and even death. But if he perseveres, he is promised the Resurrection.

"Father, in Your will is our peace."

"You cannot see from where you are in this life now the power and value of sufferings united to My own. Anything given to Me, anything placed in My priestly hands, I lift up and offer to the Father, covered with My precious Blood. It is this that makes your sufferings, even the smallest ones, precious to Me, and precious in the sight of My Father." (IN SINU JESU,
Saturday, October 25, 2008).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com