وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Make sure that fasting changes something in you.
Do not let a change of food be the only thing different you do in a fast. Let the fast be change towards a better life, a chance to remove the defects and weaknesses you feel exist in your relationship with God and people. What benefit otherwise would you have, if you subdued yourself during the fifty five days of Lent only to come out of it exactly as you had been before, without increasing your fellowship and communication with God?!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Think about the number of fasts that have passed by while you are still as you are, without change.
How many fasts have you kept up till now since you came to know God? How many years since you have passed observed the different fasts as well as the weekly Wednesdays and Fridays fasts?
If you had managed to overcome just one weak point for every fast you observed which reconciles you to God, you will have succeeded in tasting the sweetness of His will and the depth of your relationship with Him!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Do not pause at the formalities of fasting but delve into its depths.
Fasting is neither a mere set of formalities nor an ordinance or rite. Rather, it is a blessing given to us by God and organised by the Church for our spiritual benefit, to enlighten and train our souls of the idealism that we should follow for: “Holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Fasting, therefore, is a sacred, idealistic, and extraordinary act. It requires a special spiritual planning to match its holiness. When a fast begins, we feel that we have entered a time of exultation and started extraordinary days of self training in living a life of perfection. Therefore, these days should not pass as other days do, for they constitute a new phase in our relationship with God - a phase that we go through with new feelings and spirit.
It is true that all the days of our life should be sacred. However, fasting days are more so than others. If we conduct ourselves well during these days, we shall attain the holiness for the rest of our life. It is a time when we devote ourselves, as much as we can, to God and deepen our relationship with Him..

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Have you heard of the fast that exorcises evil spirits?
About these devils the Lord said: “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Matt 17:21). What power is in these fasts that even the devils cannot stand but are exorcised? Is it mere abstention from food? Of course not, Rather, it is the strong relationship that binds the person who fasts with God and which the Devil cannot stand. It is the harmony between man and God, of love and spiritual relationship with God, which the Devil is deprived of. As soon as the Devil sees it, he grows weary and flees.
It is through fasting, that the man’s heart clings to God which the devil cannot withstand, and escapes.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Does your heart cling to God while fasting?
Do you give Him your heart as you do with your will? Do you feel His love while you are fasting? Does this love clearly show in your prayers and contemplation while fasting? Have you ever forgotten about your food and drink, for the sake of His love?
Is it as if you say to your body while fasting: ‘"I have no time for you now. If you have or have not eaten it does not concern me. "Everything under the sky has its own time" and this is not your time. I am preoccupied with the spiritual work with God. Come join us if you want to have some substance in this fast. As for food, there is no room for it now. My food now is every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."’
His feelings are the same as those of Saint John, saying: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day” (Revelation 1:10).
There is no doubt that days of fasting belong to the Lord. Therefore, are you "in the spirit" during your fast? Have you utterly forgotten about your bodily needs, with all its desires and opted to live in the spirit during the fasting period? You are not indebted to your body except for the necessities without which it cannot survive. It is as if you were saying with the apostle Paul: “Whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—“ (2 Cor 12:3).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Does God occupy your thoughts while you fast?
During the divine Mass the priest cries out saying: "where are your hearts?" and the congregation answers: "They are with the Lord." Likewise, I want to ask you the same question when you fast: "Where are your minds?" Can you answer, saying: "They are with the Lord?" is not a fast a sacred period devoted to God, and one during which thoughts must be occupied with God alone? Examine yourself, and determine if your thoughts wander during the fast.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Do worldly concerns fill your thoughts during a fast?
In the whirlwind of labour, news, and in conversation with others, you do not find time to give God your thoughts!
You may fast till sunset but your thoughts are not with God and your mind exhausted, roaming and conforming to the world! You may spend a lot of time in idle chat and trivial things and your thoughts are away from God. You may only remember Him only when you sit down to break your fast. Then, you pray before eating and mention to God the fact that you have been fasting. Is this the kind of spiritual fast that sets your conscience at ease?! Remember the words of the Prophet David: “I have set the Lord always before me. “ (Ps 16:8).
He is there before me in every thing I do and in every word I say. He sees everything. I also set Him before me because He is my aim away from which I do not want to venture. He is before me and because of Him alone I fast. My fast is not to distract me from Him, but to have Him always before me.
If on regular days you remember all the time God before you, then how much more so should you be when fasting, a time devoted and consecrated to God?

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

If God is not in your thoughts, then you are not fasting.
A day of fasting which passes by without remembering God, should be crossed out of your fast, for it cannot be as included under the title: “Declare a holy fast.” (Joel 1:14,2:15)...
Some may ask, how can I do this while living in the world and having many responsibilities that I must think about?

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Keep a balance in accordance with three rules:
1. Do not let your responsibilities dominate in such a way as to take all your thoughts and not leave a place for God. Set limits to your responsibilities and allow the Lord His share.
2. Depart from any thought that does not please God, for such a thought does not coincide with the sacred scope of your life. As the Apostle Paul says: “Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5) Therefore, do not defile your fast with wrong thoughts, for any thoughts which please Christ should be kept while those which displease Him should be driven away.
3. Let God share in your thoughts and in your goals, and say:
It is for God's sake that I am pondering this topic.
It is good that you think about your responsibilities, but do not let them be separate from God’s. It is God who has given them to you, and you think about them for His sake. Therefore, your thoughts about them should not be separate from God. It is for God that you think about the affairs of your business, about your lessons and studies, about your service, and about your family responsibilities, on the condition that your thoughts do not take you away from God who is the origin and the foundation of everything,. Think about your responsibilities while saying to God:
Join in the work of Your faithful.