He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
Isaiah 58 10-11
Volumes have been written on fasting and traditions in the Church yet try to explain to people who do not practice these seasonal traditions, and sometimes they smile and just ask again: "but why?"
When you fast from something you deny yourself whatever it is that you could easily have. I learned something about fasting recently that really put it all together for me. When I feel that longing in whatever form it appears, such as hunger, or even a habit we are trying to break, if we unite in prayer with those around who also lack in a similar way, hunger, or habit for example, that spiritually elevates our fasting and our actions because we unite with someone else who is longing. Even better when we say a prayer, because then we have through a prayer, no matter how simple and no matter where we are, relied on Christ who is with us and remains with us.
