One of the traditional practices of Lent is fasting. In the Catholic Church (Latin-rite), this fasting takes many forms:

• Adults between 18 and 59 are required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. (There are exceptions for pregnant and nursing mothers, those who are ill, and those who perform heavy labor.)
• On Ash Wednesday, the Fridays of Lent, and Good Friday, those over the age of fourteen are required to abstain from meat.
• All people, young and old, are encouraged to make some sacrifice, to give up a small pleasure for these forty days. Examples might include chocolate, a favorite television show, daily fancy coffee, or social media.

But what is the point of these practices? Why bother with fasting? Actually, there are several reasons:

• Fasting helps us to learn how to discipline our wills. We learn to say no to ourselves and to delay gratification.
• When we fast, we hunger for the thing we have given up. That hunger reminds us of a deeper hunger — our hunger for God.
• Fasting helps us grow in solidarity with the poor. Though our hunger lasts only a short time, it is enough to remind us of those who go hungry and who do without so many things that we take for granted.
• Fasting frees up resources — particularly time and money — that can be used for the common good.
• Fasting reminds us to take better care of our common home — the earth.

We’ll look at the last two reasons in our next blog posts.