Blogging for Lent
I doubt there is anyone out there reading this who isn’t coming from my Cal blog (http://ExcuseMeForMyVoice.com), but starting today, this blog is back. Today is, of course, Ash Wednesday. I will be commenting daily on my Lenten fasting as well as generally my spiritual progress. I may also post on current events as they relate to Catholicism.
For Lent, I intend to accomplish the following things:
- Pray the Rosary daily
- Pray the Liturgy of the Office daily
- Participate in Stations of the Cross at least twice
- Go to confession
- Fast for the entire period of Lent
For those who don’t know the guidelines of fasting in the Catholic Church, they are as follows:
- You are allowed one meal a day
- You can have up to two snacks, which combined do not add up to another meal
- There is no explicit guidelines regarding drink, but it is considered “bad form” to be drinking filling items such as a smoothy or shake or even a soda and not be counting that towards the snack
- Meat is allowed in the meal except for days of abstinence (like Fridays during Lent)
I will not be having either of the allowed snacks and will only be drinking water. On manditory fasting days (of which today, Ash Wednesday is one of the two), I will abstain from all food and water for the entire day.
Fasting is VERY difficult for me. I’m a big guy. This morning I weighed in at 280 lbs. I expect that by Easter day I should weigh in at somewhere between 250 and 260 lbs. This is not a diet!  I fully expect to gain at least half of that weight back in the following week. But as the body is denied food, it eats into one’s muscles and fat as well as one’s organs like the Liver to get the calories it isn’t getting from food. The muscles aspect should not be overlooked as I often feel very phsyically weak during fasting.
So why do I do it?
Well, it’s hard to explain in a paragraph but I think the simplest way to state it is that there is no better way to connect with God than to put oneself entirely in His hands. There is NO WAY I could fast for that long without prayer and asking Him for the strength and determination it takes to deny oneself food that the body desperately wants. Since over the course of time and routine it is easy to loose that tight connection I’ve had with God, it is important I find ways to re-connect and for me, fasting is by far the best at helping me to do that.
For all those who pray, I’d be blessed if you could offer up a prayer for my well-being during this fast and that it strengthens my relationship with Our Savior.