Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Lenten Feasting and Fasting

This is from the Friday morning eucharistic ceremony @  Mount Calvary (courtesy of our good friend Fran -- blessings on your head!)
Lenten Feasting and Fasting:
Lent is more than a time of fasting;
it can also be a joyous season of feasting.
Lent is a time to fast from certain things,
and to feast on others.


Fast from judging others
Feast on the Christ dwelling in them
Fast from emphasis on differences
Feast on the unity of life
Fast from apparent darkness
Feast on the reality of light


Fast from thoughts of illness
Feast on the healing power of God
Fast from words that pollute
Feast on words of purity
Fast from discontent
Feast on gratitude


Fast from anger
Feast on patience
Fast from pessimism
Feast on optimism
Fast from worry
Feast on Divine Providence


Fast from complaining
Feast on appreciation
Fast from negatives
Feast on affirmatives
Fast from unrelenting pressures
Feast on unceasing prayer


Fast from hostility
Feast on peace
Fast from bitterness
Feast on forgiveness
Fast from self-concern
Feast on compassion for others


Fast from personal anxiety
Feast on trust
Fast from discouragement
Feast on hope
Fast from acts that tear down
Feast on acts which build up


Fast from thoughts that weaken
Feast on promises that inspire
Fast from idle gossip
Feast on purposeful silence
Fast from problems which overwhelm
Feast on prayer that undergirds