Friday 24th February, 2012
Day of penance. Isaiah 58:1-9. A broken, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn—Ps 50(51):3-6, 18-19. Matthew 9:14-15.

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

The fast that pleases God.

The church offers us the season of Lent to enter more deeply into our own weakness and the weakness of the world. We take time to strip back some of the excesses of our lives, the excesses with which we burden ourselves and others.

In numerous religious traditions, fasting is a profound and sacred expression of humility and repentance. It is an invitation to empty ourselves of what we think is our own fullness and allow ourselves to be filled by God

It is not, as Isaiah says, an empty stomach that pleases God. Rather it is the breaking of unjust fetters. We remember that all of us, in some way, have broken hearts and labour under burdens, and that God comes to us and offers to heal us, saying, ‘I am here.’