A Letter From Our Pastor: THE JOY OF SACRIFICE

Dear Parish Family,

“Again we keep this solemn fast..." sings one popular Lenten song, in a tune that resembles a dirge. We all know the drill: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards (from the U.S. Bishops’ page “Fast & Abstinence”).

The senior members of our congregation might remember that fasting was once required every day of Lent. There were additional fast days in the old calendar, notably ember days and the vigils of feast days. I’ve recently been combing through documents looking for what the rules of fasting used to be and how and why they changed.

Two things emerged from my research. First, in reducing the number of fast days, Holy Mother Church had no intention of encouraging Christians to not fast. In fact, all the documents I read warmly encourage fasting and other acts of penance. Still to this day, Catholics are required to abstain from meat every Friday throughout the year, not just in Lent (a 1966 document allows American Catholics to substitute some other suitable penance for the abstinence from meat on Fridays that are not in Lent). Unfortunately, Catholics in this regard, as in so many other areas, began to follow the American norms. By this, I mean that we almost never fast, preferring to indulge ourselves to the point of illness, and then we “go on a diet.” Selfcontrol has never been more necessary, or more unpopular.

The second thing I noticed is that the Bishops, by making a very basic requirement, are leaving lots of room for Catholics to voluntarily choose penance. Sacrifices done out of duty are meritorious and rewarding. But sacrifices freely chosen as an act of love bring much greater reward. Why would I voluntarily choose suffering and penance? Because Jesus did! He lived a life of self-giving love and He called us to a life of self-giving love. Small penances help train us to, “lay down our lives.” True love requires sacrifice, and sacrifices lead to joy. If your life lacks joy, perhaps you should consider a few more voluntary sacrifices. Happy Lent!

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Joel Sember, Pastor

Fr. Joel Sember, Pastor