Pope Shenouda III
So what is this spiritual depth? And what is the goal of our fasting? Is it merely to deprive and humiliate the body?
Deprivation of the body is in fact, not a virtue in itself but only a means by which the soul can take its hold. Do we therefore, confine ourselves to the means, or move to the target which is allows the soul to take its restrain?
How many are the false goals that rise before man in his fasts! Some may fast merely for self-approval, to feel pious, to gain approval in spiritual gatherings, to avoid being negligent to a biblical commandment or to gain praise from others for his fast or his level. In this way, one falls in to the sin of false self glory.
What then should be the sound aim in fasting?