Let us therefore cast off every destructive madness so that we may gain the goods which have been promised to us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit.
St. John Chrysostom, On Fasting
Meatfare Sunday (February 7, 2021) begins our more serious preparation for Great Lent. Instead of jumping into the fast all at once the Byzantine tradition gives us several days ease into our lenten discipline. Meat fare Sunday, hence, is the last day Eastern Christians eat meat before the start of the Fasting Season of Great Lent. Traditionally, we focus on the Second Coming of Christ, and the Final Judgement of the Living and the Dead.
We have an opportunity to dig more deeply into the meaning and value of Meat-Fare Sunday by attending to the resources given to us by God With Us Online. In particular, read the February reflection among this week’s Catechist Resources.
If one your friends at work asked you why fast, what would be your answer? Or, if you are looking for an excuse not to fast, do you know why fasting is part of a healthy spiritual life? In an era when some health nuts are advocating intermittent fasting for health reasons, let us spend some time this Lent fasting, praying and almsgiving. As Melkite Father Hezekias encourages, “As we begin this time of fasting it is important for us to know why and how we are to do it, and we have no better teacher than our Holy Father John Chrysostom!”
God With Us Online resources are noted here.