Fasting…
Dear Family of Mary!
“Dear children! God has permitted me to be with you also today, to call you to prayer and fasting…” (February 25, 2021 Message)
We are in the second week of Lent. It is not too late to start a plan of prayer and fasting for these days of grace. I want to share with you some wonderful words of encouragement about fasting. They come from Fr. Daniel Maria Klimek, T.O.R. Fr. Daniel is doing a weekly program on Mary TV called “Living the Message”. I highly recommend his programs!!!
And on his latest show, “Living the Messages – 011 – How to Fast”, Fr. Daniel gives some excellent advice on fasting. I will transcribe a section of his talk for you here but you will want to watch the whole video on Mary TV:
I got a really good question from a viewer. The question was, “What are the different ways of fasting?”
It is such a good question, not only because there are different ways, but because when we combine them, we enter a more wholistic spirituality. There are various benefits that fasting can have. There are spiritual benefits, but I also believe that fasting, if we look at it in diverse ways can even help us socially to become better communicators, to become better listeners, to become better friends. There are certain fasts that are mental or verbal fasts that not only help us in the battle of sin but also in the area of human development and communication.
So let me give you an example. Let’s say you are someone who really struggles with pride. Maybe pride is an issue. One fast you could consider is a verbal fast. It is to go a whole week, and then extend it to the next week, step by step…without speaking about yourself. That could be difficult for some people. Maybe you are one of these people who loves to be the center of attention. The person who holds court at the table, the person who is the story teller. And yes, this could be really asking for a lot. But you know what will happen, not only will there be growth in terms of interior humility, but also there will be such social benefits. Because you will be forced to discover more about the people around you. You will be forced to have deeper conversations. You will be encouraged to actually ask deeper questions about who they are, what are their experiences.
And of course there are other ways of fasting. In addition to this verbal fasting where you decide not to talk about yourself as much, there is also an intentional decision not to gossip, to be very careful about your speech in general, and also the mental, the interior. Let’s say you are someone who struggles with negative thinking. Maybe negative thoughts come into your mind often. Maybe it is negative thoughts about various people. Here is a strategy. When a negative thought enters about a person that you usually dwell on, that you usually entertain, turn it into a prayer! That’s right, turn it into a form of spiritual intercession. Start to pray instantaneously for that person who has entered your mind. Why is that powerful? Because you have taken something that could be a potential vice, this inner judgmentalism, and you have transformed it into something sacred. A prayer for the individual. An act of intercession. So there is an interior cleansing of your mind that is happening, and there is also grace that enters the world for that soul who needs it.
So you notice how this interior fasting can become a spiritual discipline. And help a person to become an intercessor in their lives.
Fr. Daniel Maria Klimek, T.O.R – Living the Message!
https://marytv.tv/living-the-message-2/?smid=iRxxfcsY1Tk&slid=OrRUoFrsi1j
Fr. Daniel went on to talk about bodily fasting. The whole talk is very helpful. You can view it on our website at the link above.
Let’s not waste a moment of this time of grace!! Let’s ramp up our prayer and fasting!
St. Joseph, help us to pray and fast as you did:
Prayer to St. Joseph (adapted from St. Bernardine of Siena)
Oh my beloved St. Joseph, adopt me as thy child. Take charge of my salvation; watch over me day and night; preserve me from the occasions of sin; obtain for me purity of body. Through thy intercession with Jesus, grant me a spirit of sacrifice, humility, self-denial, burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet and tender love for Mary, my mother.
O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may serve the Blessed Virgin Mary in her battle against the devil in these last days, always living her messages and answering her call from Medjugorje, so that the Immaculate Heart of Mary will Triumph in this world.
Finally, St. Joseph, be with me living, be with me dying, and obtain for me a favorable judgement from Jesus, my merciful Savior. Amen.
Dear St. Joseph, help me respond to this message from Our Lady:
“Dear children! Today in a special way I invite you all to prayer and renunciation. For now as never before Satan wants to show the world his shameful face by which he wants to seduce as many people as possible onto the way of death and sin. Therefore, dear children, help my Immaculate Heart to triumph in the sinful world. I beseech all of you to offer prayers and sacrifices for my intentions so I can present them to God for what is most necessary. Forget your desires, dear children, and pray for what God desires, and not for what you desire. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (September 25, 1991)
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2021
PS. Denis and I have recorded the Spiritual Warfare Prayers and posted them on the Mary TV website so you can pray them along with us! Here is the link:
