Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Meat Fast
Theophylaktos, Bishop of Nicomedia
Kellia: Psalm 102:8-15 LXX Epistle: Jude 1:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 22:39-42, 45-23:1
St. Luke 22:39-42, 45-23:1, especially vs. 69: "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand
of the power of God." Superficially, it seems incongruous to look to fasting as a source for strength; yet St. Photios the
Great, the Patriarch of Constantinople, assures us that "by fortifying the body with fasting, bracing it with discipline,
whereby the mortification of the flesh is achieved....we re-live Christ's death, and put on the armor against the Evil one, and
are awarded victory if we struggle zealously to the end."
The truth is, we necessarily must look beyond the physiological effects of abstinence and fasting and their impact on body
and soul. Fasting is carried out first and foremost as a means of seeking "the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Mt.
6:33). As Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "is directed not against the body, but against the flesh. Its aim is not destructively to
weaken the body, but creatively to render the body more spiritual." The strength we seek in fasting is a restoration to the
natural powers that God intends for our spirits and souls so that they have primacy over our corrupted lusts and appetites.
The Gospel selections for today present a portrait of our Lord Jesus from His final hours in the Garden of Gethsemane until
the decision by the Sanhedrin to take Him before Pontius Pilate for an order of execution. By observing the Lord in the
initial throes of His Passion, we discern the powers that God intends for us to gain through true fasting: strength to pray for
victory over temptation and sorrow, strength to meet the power of darkness while retaining meekness and the capacity to
heal, and strength to stand before any opponent of our God, and Faith to witness to the truth.
When the Lord Jesus came into the Garden, He urged His disciples, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Lk.
22:40). However, they were not able to sustain their prayers at this critical time, and so the Lord kindly repeated His
admonition (vs. 46). The Evangelist explains why: "He found them sleeping from sorrow" (vs. 45). Perhaps as a result of
the Lord Jesus' warnings, the Disciples were overcome with sorrow at His predictions of His blood being shed (Lk. 22:20),
of His betrayal (Lk. 22:21-22), of their own imminent failure to stand with Him (Lk. 22:31-34), and of His being
"numbered with the transgressors" (Lk. 22:37).
However, when we aim at honing the spiritual aspect of our person by fasting, it opens the truth that all that happens comes
to us by God's permission and for His purposes. If we pass through all that takes place with such confidence - that God is
in charge and is using the events of the present - then temptation will be arrested and sorrow soon will be lifted.
Similarly, fasting strengthens one's spirit to meet the power of darkness with the same God-given qualities of meekness
and healing which the Lord Jesus displayed when the authorities arrested Him (Lk. 22:47-54). He permits Judas' kiss (vss.
47,48). He stops all resistance by a command (vs. 51). He immediately heals the servant of the High Priest (vs. 51). He
quietly allows the officials to arrest Him and to lead Him to the High Priest's house (vs. 54). The strong in spirit, those
whose hearts are empowered through union with Christ and are aware of God's infinite love for them, are able to maintain
their purity and strength in all circumstances.
Fasting reveals our weakness but shows Christ's almighty strength, allowing us to stand as faithful witnesses in Him
before every opponent. At Christ's arrest, Peter failed. In the power of the Resurrection, like the Apostle, we can find the
strength to face any Christ-hating attack. O Compassionate One, help us to hasten to the subjugation of the flesh by
abstinence as we approach the divine battlefield of blameless fasting, and shower us with Thy strength.