Eat all you can! Unlimited Rice! Rice-all-you can!

Listening to the Spirit

Eat all you can! Unlimited Rice! Rice-all-you can! These are only some of the advertainments in some restaurants. The restaurants “tempted” us, come at me, you hungry enough. Break your fast. But, don’t worry, since in the beginning we have been tempted. Let us follow the following conversation:

God: You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.
Eve: Adam, I want to taste that fruit.
Adam: Let us fast from that fruit as God said.
Eve: Adam, please! Let us break the fast. It must be delicious.
Snake: Eat all you can. Come on, you must be hungry.

Adam and Eve break the fast but they were not satisfied. They were naked. They were shamed. And they were afraid. Why?

God: Where are you? “Did you break the fast? I told you, Keep the fast!”

Holy Spirit helps us to overcome the daily temptations of our life.

Listening to the Word

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

Jesus kept the fast - “Man does not live by bread alone.’”

If Adam and Eve broke the fast, Jesus (New Adam) kept the fast. At the beginning of his ministry, in today's gospel, we read, “He (Jesus) ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Jesus was hungry.

“Hunger is that state in which we realize our dependence on something else. This is the time when we face this important question: “on what does my life depend?” Satan tempted both Adam and Christ, saying: Eat, for your hunger is proof that you depend entirely on food, that your life is in food. Adam believed and ate. Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone.” Jesus didn’t put his faith in food. Jesus listens to the Spirit and the Spirit keeps him to be always in communion with God.

Thus, for us, fasting is the only means by which we recover our true spiritual nature. Our fasting is not concerned with losing weight. It is a matter of prayer and the Spirit. It is a matter of knowing who we are. Satan tempted Jesus at the very core of his identity. “Jesus was tempted to believe he was someone else: You are the one who can turn stone into bread. You are the one who can jump from the temple. You are the one who can make others bow to your power. Jesus said, No, no, no. I am the beloved from God.” Jesus didn’t fall into the temptations because he let himself led by the Spirit during his 40 days in the desert. He listens to the Spirit.

As we enter into this 40 days’ journey, let us allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit lead us in our prayer, alms-giving, and fasting. Again, fasting is not a matter of avoiding foods and losing weight. It is a matter of searching for our fulfillment. It is a matter of the heart. St. Augustine expressed it beautifully, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.”