Ash Wednesday and Lent

Ash Wednesday is on February 17th, 2021. It kicks off the 40 days of Lent, a period of fasting before Easter, right? Well...about that... If you count from Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday (the day before Easter), it is actually 46 days. So for all those years I thought I was fasting 40 days, it was actually 46 days. Lent is a 40-day period of fasting, but the Sundays are meant to be excluded. That's right. We aren't supposed to fast on Sundays.  

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning Lent with a time of prayer and repentance. If we trace its history back to the 300s with the Council of Nicea, we see that the concept of 40 days of fasting was present, even while fasting on Sundays was forbidden since Sundays were not a day for penance or other forms of sorrow. 

So if we want to fast during Lent, except for the Sundays, what kind of fasting should we do? Isaiah 58 describes the fast that God is displeased with, as well as the kind of fast that He wants from us. Throughout Lent, I will be diving into Isaiah 58 each week to delve into the different aspects of fasting in more detail.

Lent is supposed to be more than just abstaining from chocolate or social media for 40 days (well 46 days because we never counted them or realized that Sundays weren't meant to be fast days). Fasting wasn't meant to simply be a day that we abstain from a food or activity that we like. It was meant to be a time that we worked to end oppression and to help the oppressed. So fast from chocolate, but take your chocolate budget and donate it to a food bank. Fast from social media, but use that time to pray, to volunteer, or to repent. 

If we choose to fast like the early(ish) church in the first few centuries after the crucifixion, we would be normally fasting a few days a week (such as Wednesdays and Fridays) during the year. During Lent, we would only eat one meal a day (in the evening). We would abstain from meat, fish, eggs, and butter, as well as wine, oil, and dairy products in some denominations. 

Take some time to prayerfully consider how you can fast in line with Isaiah 58. Ask how your fasting can work towards justice.