In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Behold, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the season of the Fast has arrived. For forty days and forty nights did the Lord send down rain upon the face of the earth but preserved Noah and his family in the ark, for forty days Moses went into the cloud on the mountain (Exodus 24:18) where he neither ate bread nor drank, (Deuteronomy 9:18) for forty days did our Lord Himself fast before battling the Satan. (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2) Forty days represents for us a period of preparation that we may be purified, washed, brought to completion. Both David and Solomon reigned for forty years (Second Kingdoms 5:4, Third Kingdoms 11:38) to show that theirs is a preparation. For forty, or rather forty-two, is six sevens, and by its very nature points us towards a coming seventh seven, a period of fulfilment, of completion. We prepare, we wait, we anticipate until the Bridegroom bursts forth with Life.
We fast. We fast not that it makes us righteous, not that it makes us holy, but that we might be changed and transformed by Christ. If I become more judgemental, more critical, more condemnatory towards my family, my neighbours and the world then I have not fasted. If others know more about my food requirements than about my love and service for them then I have not fasted. If I turn to prayer so that I can ignore my sin, if I use Church to justify my laziness, if I claim the love of God for myself while denying it to just one other person then I have not fasted. We fast, but we fast in secret, we fast, but we fast to build our relationship with God, we fast, but it is about our love for our neighbours more than rules and regulations. “But when you fast,” says the Lord, to you and to me,
anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
My dear brothers and sisters, let us enter into the joy of the Fast together. Let our fasting be about our generosity towards God and towards our neighbours, let our fasting be about repenting of our own sins, let our fasting be about reorienting ourselves towards our Lord that we may recognise Him risen from the tomb, that our joyfulness be completed and perfected and that we may enter with Him into the Kingdom of God.
My dear brothers and sisters, let us fast.
That we may offer true praise, glory and worship to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who has defeated sin and destroyed death, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for God is able to make him stand.
— Romans 13:11–14, 14:1–4
The Lord said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
— Matthew 6:14–21