Our Holy Fathers and Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander (336), John (577), and Paul the Younger (784)
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat
Read
2 Corinthians 7:10-16; Mark 2:18-22
Jesus seemed to be known as the one who brought the party. He was often accused of associating with drunkards (Mt 11:19; Acts 2:15). To this common misconception, Jesus gives them the reason why. With Christ’s advent, the fullness of joy has come. In his person, he is trying to teach us about the purpose of such things. We don’t fast to diet, or for some vague ideology. Our fasting must be tethered to the anticipation of the one who is to come, the heavenly bridegroom, Jesus Christ. A good example of this is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. We celebrate it in the evening—an unusual practice for Byzantine Christians—only that we fast before-hand and wait in anticipation to receive the heavenly bridegroom. In contemporary practice, Eastern Catholics tend to forget, minimalize, or rationalize fasting. In reducing to a minimum the Eucharistic fast, we also minimalize the joy in receiving the bridegroom into our bodies, who can renew the old wineskins of our heart, transforming us from inside out. Let’s try for the maximum as we are able to maximize the joy in our hearts of the one who is to come.