Let’s learn to understand correctly.

Many things and ways of life have become so familiar to us that when they are disturbed, it hurts a person. Therefore, before we judge, condemn, or reject something, it behooves us to reflect a little and see the matter from all sides. Then we will take the correct standpoint on the problem.

Mark describes a similar situation in the life of Jesus. Jesus is addressed by the disciples of John and the Pharisees, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, and your disciples do not fast?” (Mk 2:18).

Let us recall a little more of the life of Jesus to understand the answer that the Lord Jesus gave them. The teachings of Jesus do not put up with the old practices of Jewish ways and fasts, as one does not put up with a patch of new cloth on old clothes or new wine in old vessels. Jesus brought a change in the mindset of the people. Where sadness reigned, Jesus brought joy. Where there was hatred, he got love.

Likewise with fasting. The covenant God made with the nation of Israel was envisioned as a spiritual wedding. Jesus likens his new covenant to a marriage. He calls himself the bridegroom in the Gospel and declares his disciples to be companions. Fasting was an expression of mourning. But Jesus says that while he is among his disciples, it is a time of joy for them. When the time comes that Jesus will be taken away from them, it will be a time of sorrow for them.

The new patch and the new wine represent the Gospel, the Good News. The old vessels, the old garments, signify the older expressions of Israel’s religiosity. Jesus brings new ways of religiosity because the old ways are no longer enough. Even today, in looking at Lent, we give an even more unique view, but that is already wrong for the believer.

Look, fasting is ridiculous to the young today; they consider it outdated. The Church has corrected the question of fasting. The circumstances of the times have changed. To not expose the believer to sin immediately, she allows the ingestion of flesh food. Still, she asks for expiation – the tithing of the Rosary, the attendance of Holy Mass on Fridays, the reading from the Holy Scriptures, and so on. Many, however, remember only the first part of this, that meat may be eaten, but they do not reflect the invention.

A proper understanding of Lent is fundamental even today. This does not mean that we should only fast when our stomach is upset, when our doctor prescribes it, or when we see that we are putting on weight and want to maintain our figure. Then we torture ourselves with hunger strikes, fasts, and the like.

The view of fasting must be clear to us believers. It reminded us of the event of Friday when our salvation was born. The death of Christ on the cross is such an excellent event for us that we are to remember it not only on Good Friday by fasting without meat or on the first Friday of the month but every Friday of the week. Giving up meat, coffee, cigarettes, and other treats can only enrich us, make us live the word Lent more fully, and in so doing, it will be something new, beneficial, and attractive to us.

We can also look at Lent in this way: The Jews knew the great moral importance of self-control, of self-control, that without it, there is no spiritual growth of the personality. Therefore, the exercise of self-control and self-control included fasting. Even the Lord Jesus knew this. He prepares His disciples as well for more exceptional crosses than fasting. He prepares them for suffering, persecutions, and even martyrdom. And this degree of heroism and moral high ground cannot be reached without daily self-denial. We know that people who can patiently endure the crosses, hardships, and sicknesses of their lives are more than able to renounce the flesh, to fast. Knowing how to control oneself, control oneself, and conquer oneself is, after all, a real victory.

Anyone who has read the book Following Christ by Thomas Kempczinski will have encountered this theme as well: To the extent that you make progress, to the time that you do violence to yourself, to the extent that you can control yourself, deny yourself, control yourself…

We have, then, new stimuli to life for further enrichment and acquisition of merit. Let us not let the teachings of Jesus grow stale. Let us think, let us reflect, and indeed we will find what nothing can make up for.