They Saw Jesus Walking on the Sea: St. John 6:16-29

St. John 6:16-29: "1 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid.' 21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone--23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks--24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?' 26 Jesus answered them and said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.' 28 Then they said to Him, 'What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?' 29 Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'"

In today's pericope there are three miracles that our Lord performs, so that the Apostles might give witness. First, we have the walking on the water by our Lord as told by St. John, the Evangelist. Second, we have the calming of the winds and wave as He is walking towards them. And third, the disciples immediate arrival at the shore, when they had willingly received our Lord Jesus into the boat.

In order to set these events into their proper setting the Evangelist, St. John, points out a few facts. Immediately after the feeding of the 5,000, which text we heard the Fourth Sunday in Lent, commonly called Laetare, we are told by St. John that the crowds were so impressed by the miracle of receiving food in abundance that they desired to make Him a king. Since He is already a King, just not of this world, we are told He departed up the mountain to a solitary place to pray. It is here where the reading begins, get into a boat to cross over to the other side. The question arises, "Why did they not wait for Him?" This is answered in the other Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, who relate to us that Jesus had instructed them to get into the boat and go to the other side without Him. St. John adds the detail that it was evening by the time they set out.

Having rowed three or four miles, a strong wind arises, and makes their rowing difficult. It is then they see our Lord Jesus walking to them upon the water. In the other Gospels we are told that they thought it was a ghost, and that this was the reason for their fear. Here St. John relates something remarkable which the other Gospel writers omit. And that is the words that our Lord spoke to inform them that He was the one they were seeing. The English translation (as is often the case) does not convey what the Greek holds. For the English says, "It is I." However, the Greek says, "Ego eimi," or in English, "I AM." Our Lord announces Himself by using the same Name that He announced Himself to Moses in the burning bush, "I AM THAT I AM." This designation of our Lord is common in the Evangelist St. John's Gospel. In this we can see two things, one, how weak the English translation is; And two, our Lord calms the Apostles' fear by declaring His Name.

This too, of course, is how the Lord calms our fears, by making known His Name among us. How does our Lord make known His Name among us? The answer lies in the First Petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be Thy Name." When we pray this petition we are praying that God's Name may be holy among us. This is done when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity among us, and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution among us. For when these things are being done, then God's Name is being hallowed among us. Not only that, but when God's Name is made holy among us by the pure preaching of the Word, and the right administration of the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit is also at work among us. What is His task? To bring us the Kingdom of God, which is the Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer. He brings us the Kingdom of God, by giving us faith to believe God's holy Word, and also have faith that the Sacraments are efficacious for forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. This also leads us to the Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer, that Our Lord's will would be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven. For when the Word is preached in its purity, and the Sacraments are rightly administered, then the good and gracious will of God is being done, for it is allowing the Word of God to be taught among us (Hallowing His Name) and it is permitting the Holy Ghost to do His work of creating and sustaining faith and life in us (that is, bringing us the Kingdom of God).

Therefore, in our Lord's Name, we see Him giving Himself to His disciples, and when His Name is placed upon us, and we remind ourselves that His Name is placed upon us, when we make the sign of the cross upon our foreheads, our Lord is giving Himself to us, so that we might not be afraid of the evil will and counsel of the devil, the world, and our flesh.

So we see in the very short sermon of our Lord, "It is I; Do not be afraid," that He declares to His disciples and to us, who He is, and in knowing who He is we need not fear. For He is the Son of God Almighty, who walks on the water, calms the wind and waves, and transports the boat immediately to shore, so that those who saw these things, may be witnesses and proclaim to all, and especially to us, who is the Messiah.

May God be with you,

Deacon Dulas

Lord, Teach Us to Pray: St. Luke 10:38-11:13

St. Luke 10:38-11:13: "10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.' 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'

"11:1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.' 2 So He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.' 5 And He said to them, 'Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him;" 7 and he will answer from within and say, "Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you?" 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!'"

Our Lord teaches us two things in today's pericope. One, how the ministers of God should behave when they go into the homes of those who receive them. And two, how to pray to our Heavenly Father for those things we need.

Our Lord Jesus teaches us that when the ministers of God go into the homes of those who receive them, that they "should not remain idle, but should rather fill the minds of those who receive them with sacred and divine teachings."* That is, that they are tasked with preaching the Word of God at all times in the midst of those who receive them. They are to be the embodiment of the Word of God among the people of God. Our Lord does this, in that when He enters the home of Mary and Martha (and we learn in other places, that this is the home of Lazarus in Bethany) He sits down to teach and preach.

We also learn from the Blessed Mary how those who receive the ministers of God are to receive them and their words. Mary sits at the feet of Jesus. She didn't just sit nearby, but at His feet, that is, she shows her diligence, eagerness, and steadfastness in hearing our Lord's Word. She wants nothing more than to hear what our Lord has to say. Martha on the other hand is consumed with being a good hostess. And in her obsession, she misses out on the opportunity to hear what our Lord teaches.

This is true for us as well, when the ministers of God come into our homes, we may be tempted to be more concerned about being good hosts and hostesses, than hearing what he has to say. This is why the ministers of God visit people in their homes, they come to bring the Word of God, that is not to say that other things cannot take place, but both minister and hearers have an obligation to preach and hear, respectively. The danger that is being expressed, is the minister who never says anything about what God has done, or, the hearer, who doesn't want the minister to say anything about God and what He has done. Are you the type of person who doesn't want the minister in your home, because you don't want him to be "all preachy?" Then you should repent, for this is for your benefit. He has been sent by God, and to not receive him, is to not receive our Lord Jesus. A similar question can be asked of the ministers of God, are you the type of minister who goes into people's homes, and do not say anything about God, because you do not want to sound "all preachy?" Then repent, for you have been sent by God, to bring the good news of salvation to those people.

In this Mary chooses the better thing, for she shows how diligently we are to cling to the Word of God, and crave for it to be spoken to us. And our Lord Jesus, is all to willing to oblige.

The second thing our Lord teaches us, is to pray. And He teaches His disciples (and us) by giving them the Lord's Prayer. This gives us a good chance to look at the Lord's Prayer, and receive some catechesis on it. Afterall, being in Lent, this is the season for catechesis. Therefore let us look briefly at each petition.

Our Lord begins teaching us how to pray, by teaching us to Whom we are to address our prayers. We are to beseech our Heavenly Father. After the Lord's Prayer in the text, He even gives us examples of how we are to imagine our Heavenly Father, that is, as a father. When we ask our earthly fathers for something, and we are told by Jesus, that even the evil ones do this, our fathers, because of their love for their sons, give us good things. And we knowing how our earthly fathers give to us, we have no qualms about asking them for the things we need. Therefore, we should have the same relationship with our Heavenly Father, not afraid to ask Him for the things we need.

Our Lord then explains to His disciples what things are to be asked for from our Heavenly Father, and these can be broken down into two categories. One, is spiritual needs, and the other is physical needs. Our daily earthly needs are sandwiched in the Lord's Prayer, between our daily spiritual needs.

Like the Ten Commandments, where the first three deal with our Lord God, in the Lord's Prayer, the first three deal with our greatest needs. Our first need is that God would hallow His Name, that is, that He would make His Name holy among us. Now we know that God's Name is holy in and of itself, but we pray that God would make His Name holy among us. How is this done? God's Name is made holy among us when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, and we gladly and willing require and enjoy His Word preached in its purity. Therefore, those who don't care about such things, or do not think that preaching correct doctrine is as important as "getting the Word out" are profaning the Name of God among us. Of course, one is not actually "getting the Word out" if the Word that is being put out there is incorrect.

The second spiritual need we have is that our Lord's kingdom would come among us. Again, God's kingdom comes in and by itself, even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come among us. So, how does God's kingdom come? It comes when He gives us His Holy Spirit. In other words, whenever the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution in our midst, the Holy Spirit is give to us. And when that happens, He, through the outpouring of His grace upon us, creates in us faith and life, so that we may believe the Word that was preached, and believe that in the Sacraments we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. In short, in order for our Lord's kingdome to come to us, we need the means of grace given to us in their truth and purity. Wherever the means of grace are not given out, or are given out contrary to Christ's institution, the kingdom of God cannot come, nor can His Holy Spirit create and sustain faith and life in us by the outpouring of His grace.

The third spiritual need that we must ask for and receive before requesting any earthly need, is that our Lord's will would be done on earth, in the same way that it is done in Heaven. Again, we know that God's will is done without our prayer, but we pray that it may be done among us, or in other words, that we may gladly and willing receive His holy will. How is this done? Whenever God breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our flesh, which do not want us to make God's Name holy among us, nor let His kingdom come among us. In other words, God's will is done when we make sure that the first two petitions are happening among us, that we do not become apathetic towards God's Word, and correct doctrine and practice, nor allow false teaching and practice to exist among us. For when we are apathetic, or allow false practice to exist among us, we are weakened in our faith. This is what the second part of the Blessed Martin Luther's explanation to this petition explains, that is, that when we are allowing God's will to be done, and His kingdom to come, He is strengthening and perserving us in the One True Faith. This is why the Word of God, and the right administration of the Sacraments in our midst are so important, for these are the means by which the Holy Ghost works to create and sustain, and strengthen our faith. Where these things do not exist, our faith is either weakened, or in grave danger of being wasted away.

Having learned how to ask our Heavenly Father to keep His Word and Sacraments pure in our midst, we are now ready to ask for those things which we need to sustain this body and life. For when we have the Word of God in its truth and purity, we learn to be content with the simple things that our Lord gives us, and we ask only for the necessities to sustain life. This is why the next petition simply states, "Give us this day our daily bread." For in daily bread is meant all that we need to support this body and life, or to say it another way, we are asking for only those things which we need to support our earthly life. God certainly gives daily bread without our prayer, and on account of His grace and love for His creation, He even gives it freely to all evil people. But when we ask our Heavenly Father to give us daily bread, we are acknowledging from Whom our earthly bread comes from, and we are by virtue giving Him thanks for it.

Having taken care of our spiritual and earthly needs, we now turn to those things that attack us in this life, and draw us away from our Heavenly Father, and that is sin. Both the sin that we commit, and the sin that is commited against us. This petition rightly follows the others, for part of our sin, is being lax in God's Word, and receiving and rejoicing in the Sacraments. We also daily have desires that go way beyond what we need to support this body and life, for we do become discontent with our lives, and chase after the things of this life. There are also those who commit sins against us, for we live in an evil world full of sin. Therefore in this petition we request our Heavenly Father to forgive us of our sins, and we also request Him to forgive those who sin against us, releasing them from the sins that they committed against us, so that we do not hold those sins against them. It should be pointed out that this petition does not require them to ask for forgiveness. It should also be said, that when we hold grudges, we are making the second half of this petition out to be a lie. This is dangerous, for we learn from our Lord Jesus, that when we refuse to forgive our neighbors who have sinned against us, our Heavenly Father, will not forgive us. This of course, does not apply to those who through Church discipline have publicly had their sins retained. This petition is probably best summed up in the words of the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, who said, "Bear with one another."

The sixth petition request our Heavenly Father to give us the strength to resist temptation, so that we may not be led, or deceived, into false belief, despair, or other great shame or vice. This of course is done through the Holy Ghost, who dwells within us, by continued use of the means of grace. We may be assailed by the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, but by the Holy Ghost, we may overcome them and obtain the victory over temptation.

Finally, our prayer to our Heavenly Father sums up our lost condition, and prays that we would be delivered from the evil one. This petition has to do with our last hour on this Earth. When we pray this petition we are praying that our Lord would keep us free from all evil that would remove us from receiving our eternal reward in Heaven. We are saying when we pray, "Deliver us from evil" that our Lord would grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in Heaven. This is why when this petition is prayed those who pray it make the sign of the Holy Cross at the word "deliver." For we are delivered from the evil one, and are granted a blessed end, and an eternal home in Heaven, by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose suffering and death, won for us forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.

We wrap up our prayer by saying, "Amen." That is to say, "We know that what we have just prayed for, You O Lord, will grant to us, and we believe that You will freely give us all that we ask for and more." Therefore, the Church has prayed this prayer daily and much. In the past it was prayed whenever the Church Bells were rung, announcing the time of prayer, and those who were unable to come to the Lord's house for prayer, would stop and pray this prayer in their stations in life. The Blessed Martin Luther suggested that this prayer should be prayed when we awake in the morning, before and after meals, and when we lie down to sleep. This prayer is also prayed in both Matins and Vespers, the morning and evening prayers, respectively. This means that we ask our Heavenly Father for all spiritual and earthly needs, about ten times a day (if one eats three meals a day). Ten being the number of perfect completion, we pray this prayer completely and perfectly every day.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

* St. Cyril

For Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be Also: St. Matthew 6:1-23

St. Matthew 6:1-23: "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. 5 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 16 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

Three spiritual exercises are described in this pericope: Alms-giving, or charitable deeds, prayer, and fasting. The purpose of these spiritual exercises is given in the closing verses. That is, not to "lay up treasure for yourself on earth," or to say it another way, so that you look good and righteous towards your fellow man. But rather, "lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and thieves do not break in and steal." Does this mean that we should do good works for God and not for man? No! The difference between man-pleasing works, and works that are pleasing to God, is where the heart is.

Man-centered works, the works of philanthropists and sycophants, are done with a heart that sets out to please man, and curry favor with one's fellowman. They are the works righteous persons. This is seen in all three examples.

In alms-giving, the works righteous person is the person who sounds a trumpet before they give a gift. Today we call them "press conferences." But such works righteous giving can also be see in less grand ways, for example donating something to the church, and then having one's name engraved on it so that all future generations will know who gave that article. The gift may be good and useful, but the praise should be unnecessary. From personal experience it seems that at times we desire to mark who gave the gift, so that we know who to blame, if we don't like it.

Our Lord, however, would have us give so that we "do not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing" In other words, keep it a secret. The key here is the motivation of the heart. Is the alms given with the intent of showing your fellowman, how great and wonderful you are, and how great of a Christian you are? Or is the alms given so that you might show your thanks and love toward God for all of His blessing to you? Or that you might support the work of the Church, or an individual, or whomever the gift is intended to help? What is the motivation of your heart? The sad thing is, that because of the sin that dwells within us, we can never be completely selfless in our giving. But this is why our Lord gives up Himself, so that we might be given succor in our giving, learning to give as He has given to us.

In prayer, works righteousness is shown, by the hypocrites who pray openly in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order that men may see what great prayers they are. We have examples today in the many so called "evangelists" on TV. There are also those who when in a restaurant, interrupt the whole restaurant so that they can offer prayer before their meals. These folks may think they are giving a bold witness, but in reality, they are turning people away, and only giving the example that they are trying to impress people. Does that then mean that we shouldn't pray in public at a restaurant before our meals? No! This can be done quietly, and with our focus on what we are praying and to whom we are praying, and not towards who in the room may be listening. The same can be said about praying in church. There are parts in the service where silent prayer is not only suggested, but encouraged. We should not be afraid to take advantage of this, just because there may be people watching.

In the Early Church during what we now call the General Prayer, a time of about 30 minutes, would be dedicated to silent prayer. The Deacon would list certain things that should be prayed for, and then at the Deacons instruction with the words, "oremus" (let us pray) and "flectamus genua" (kneel, lit. bend the knee) the people would pray silently to their Father for these things, when time had been allowed, then the Deacon would say, "levate" (arise, or stand up, lit. be lifted up) and then the Bishop would sum up, or collect, the prayers of the people into a final prayer. We can see this form in the Bidding Prayer, where the Deacon states what we should pray for, then there is silence, then the Bishop prays a collect. This form was developed out of the synagogue prayers. This is pointed out to show that our Lord is not referring to this type of prayer, that is, public prayer, but private prayer.

Again, private prayer involves the heart, that is, the heart of faith, and to whom are we praying. Our Lord would have us go into our rooms, and pray in secret, to the Father who listens in secret. It is here in the secret places where we are more open to praying to our Heavenly Father for the things that we need and desire the most, free from the bonds of who we may be afraid might be listening. Also notice, that our Lord sums up the Lord's Prayer, by talking about forgiveness and forgiving. For it is in our private prayers where we are most free to unburden our sins. This is also why there is a thing called Private Confession, for there we can confess our sins to a man who represents our Heavenly Father in private, knowing that anything we confess will be forgiven and forgotten. And we have the benefit of knowing that our Heavenly Father has forgiven us, for there is a man there telling us that our sins are forgiven. He is also able to comfort us with additional words from holy Scripture, so that our asking of forgiveness is just like talking to our Heavenly Father, and being able to hear His reponse to us.

Sadly, fasting has fallen by the wayside among many people, and even those who desire to practice it, don't understand it, or do it incorrectly. Fasting is about preparing one's heart to receive God's Word. The purpose of fasting is to teach oneself humility, and want, so that he learns to be content with little, and in learning to be content with little, he might learn to be giving when bestowed many earthly blessings. There are different types of fasting. There is the strict fast, which is nothing to eat or drink but water. This is the fast that our Lord undertakes in the wilderness for forty days and nights. Fasting can also take a less strict approach, where one just eats less, limiting himelf to a certain amount of food, such as a 1/2 or 1/4 meal. Fasting most often involves what is properly called abstinence, that is, the refraining from certain foods for a certain time. The most common of this is the abstaining from red meat. Other more austere forms of abstinence include, no dairy products, no oil, no eggs, and no meat. This is practiced in the East. This abstinence can also include the agreement between husband and wife of abstaining from sexual intercourse for a time. Abstaining from wine (except that which is received from Holy Communion) and other alchoholic beverages is also keeping within the spirit of fasting. It should also be pointed out that the foods that are eaten should be simple, inexpensive foods, to keep within the spirit of the fast.

Fasting is always accompanied by increased alms-giving, prayer, and study of God's Word. This is why St. Matthew relates these things in succession, for the Church to have an example of its spiritual exercises. And we should think of them as exercises, just like we would exercise our physical bodies, we also exercise our spiritual bodies. And like physical exercise, if one is spiritually unfit, or new to spiritual exercise, he shouldn't try running a marathon on the first day, but ease into. This is why is a couple of weeks we will have the season of Pre-Lent, the time where we prepare our hearts and minds (and bodies) for the spiritual journey of Lent. Traditionally in the Ancient Church during the three weeks of Pre-Lent a different item of food was removed from the household, and was abstained from until Easter. For example during Septuagesima they would start abstaining from dairy products, then during Sexagesima they would abstain from eggs, then starting with Quinquagesima they would start abstaining from oil, then on Ash Wednesday they would abstain from meat, and would really only be allowed a small amount of bread each day and water until Easter.

Also during the Early Church fasting would include throughout the year fasting on Wednesday and Fridays, except from Easter to the Sunday after Pentecost. Wednesday were observed as a day of fast, for this was the day on which Judas agreed to betray our Lord. Fridays were observed in honor of the crucifixion of our Lord. Wednesdays were later dropped, and only the Friday fast was observed, which is why the practice of abstaining from red meat on Fridays happens for some during Lent

Today, fasts to varying degrees are observed throughout the year. If one wants to observe the ancient practices today, and since we are not used to such austerity, the following suggestions are made: During Advent, nothing to eat or drink, except water, every day, except Sundays and feast days, until 3 p.m., then a small, simple, inexpensive meal may be had for dinner (this applies to all fast days), and no meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. During Lent and Holy Week nothing to eat or drink, except water, until 3 p.m. and no meat every day, except on Sundays and Feast days. On Ember days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the third week in Advent, the week after Invocabit, the week after Pentecost, and the week after Sept. 14th (Exultation of the Holy Cross)) and during Rogationtide (the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension) nothing to eat or drink, except water, until 3 p.m. and no meat on those days. There is also a fast in preparation for the Blessed Sacrament that is from Midnight until one receives the Holy Mass, nothing to eat or drink, except water. This would be on Saturday night, and the night before a Feast day. Throughout the year, on Wednesdays and Fridays, nothing to eat or drink, except water, until 3 p.m. This does not apply during Easter, and from Christmas to January 13th, and when a Feast day (and its octave) falls on these days. For there is no fasting from Easter to the Sunday after Trinity, and during Christmas and Epiphany through its octave.

No matter how strict or loose one's fast is, for it is after all up to one's Christian freedom how one observes these fasting, the focus of why we fast should not be lost, that we are preparing our hearts and minds to receive God's Word by humbling ourselves, and teaching ourselves to be content with little. Fasting that focuses on how much weight is loss, is not fasting, it's dieting, and the two should never be confused. Fasting, along with prayer and alms-giving, are spiritual exercise, that are meant to strengthen our faith in our Lord and Saviour, that we might learn to love and trust in Him more fully, and learn to depend on Him for all of our earthly blessings. May our Lord Jesus teach you these things.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas