BY VERY REV MSGR GABRIEL OSU
And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting – only your Father, who is unseen, will know.

And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you”. The teaching about fasting can be found in Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39. Now the question about fasting. Matthew 9:14-17 says: Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast at all?”

Jesus answered: “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

No one patches up an old man with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst and the wine will pour out.

When Levi, a tax-collector held a great reception for Jesus in his own home, there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and other people who reclined at table with them. The Pharisees and the scribes complained saying: “Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered: “Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” – Luke 5:29-32. The call to repentance you should heed at this time of lent.

Jesus call to repentance was an apt moment in his ministry. It is similar to Isaiah 58:1-2 saying: The Lord says: “Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins! They worship me every day claiming that they are eager to know my ways and obey my laws. They say they want me to give them just laws and that they take pleasure in worshipping me”.

One fact that we humans must accept is that we are finite, limited and sinful. Conversion and change of heart is natural and even necessary for survival. Christ’s call to repentance is a call to on-going change of heart, that is, an openness to reform and transform our lives, even if the change seems unnoticeable. Christ praised the prodigal son and Zacchaeus.