Almost every fad diet has a thing called a “cheat day” where we are given permission to go off of our diet and eat whatever we want. Cheat days are a thing. In the Catholic tradition, Sundays in Lent are considered non-fasting days because every Sunday is supposed to celebrate the Resurrection and are set-aside for the Lord. If you count the days in the Lenten season, there are 44, and we fast for 40 of those, minus the 4 Sundays. This is a real thing and yet most every Catholic I know does not break their Lenten fast on Sundays because it somehow feels like cheating. I totally get it, and just when you think you’ve conquered not eating chocolate every day at 3:00pm, Sunday rolls around and ruins everything. It feels like cheating. It messes with our stride. It seems like a cop out. It makes me feel weak. There is no “cheat day” in religion!! And then we have today’s gospel and I realize that this Lenten practice gets the main thing, “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.” We set-aside Sunday as a day dedicated to the bridegroom and the table of plenty is set before us as a reminder that we don’t need to fast when we are in His presence. Is it terrible to keep our Lenten fasting on the Sundays during Lent? Of course not, but I do encourage all of us to feast on Sundays in some special way so that we don’t get stuck in the mindset of the Pharisees in today’s gospel.
Fasting during Lent is one of the most beautiful traditions of our faith and I love love love that we maintain this practice as a way to grow deeper spiritually. I have personally had many a breakthrough during my Lenten fasts. For me this Lent is a time to be more mindful about everything I do. I want to be intentional about living the gospel in all that I say and do, and today Jesus reminds me that I need to give myself a “cheat day” every now and then and just feast. May the celebration of our relationship with Jesus be the thing that reminds us to feast and feasting doesn’t have to be breaking our Lenten fast, it can simply be gazing upon the bridegroom in love, or feasting on His Word, or setting aside time for adoration, or focusing our mind on gratitude, or allowing our hearts to pour out His love in extra ways. The main thing is to celebrate Jesus, however that looks like to you. What will you do on your “cheat day” to show Jesus your love? It is well with my soul.
Reading 1 IS 58:1-9A
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
"Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?"
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
"Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?"
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
Responsorial Psalm PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Verse Before The Gospel SEE AM 5:14
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you.
and the Lord will be with you.
Gospel MT 9:14-15
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."
"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."
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