“The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.’” (Matthew 2: 22).
When my mother in law was a very young woman, she was widowed – very unexpectedly - when her husband died very suddenly of a heart attack one day (may God rest his soul). Because she was a mother to five young children at the time, and because – due to her generation, age and culture in the small Lebanese village in which she lived – she was very overwhelmed by her responsibilities in caring for her family. This is not because she was incapable of doing this, but because my late father in law did everything for her. He drove for her, banked for her, paid bills for her, worked for her. And because of this terribly sad situation, the parish priests in my mother in law’s village used to visit her very often and check on how she was going (especially as this tragedy occurred during the Lebanese civil war).
One day – during lent – one of the priests came to visit my mother in law during the day when her children were at home from school. And as lunch time came around, my mother in law set herself to preparing lunch – not only for her children but for the visiting priest as well… Being lent, many Maronite Catholic people (and priests) abstain from meat during the whole Lenten season, and that priest was no exception. My mother in law realised that the only food that she had prepared contained meat in it, and terribly embarrassed, she approached her guest and asked him what he would like her to prepare for him as he was abstaining from meat.
The priest only laughed. He walked into the kitchen, leaned over the pot, blessed the food and said, “Don’t worry. Now it’s fish.”
And my mother in law recalls this story with great love even now – some thirty years after the event – because that priest changed his sacrifice so that he would not increase hers… And I have been reflecting on that story today as I have been reflecting on true Christian Charity…
You see, Christ explained true charity when he was questioned by the Pharisees…
“Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to Him, ‘Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.’” (Matthew 2:18-22).
You see, He understood that fasting (and abstinence) are good – but they are not the MOST important thing. Charity is… You see fasting and abstinence is like a hat. We can run around with a hat but if we do not have any clothes, the hat is simply not enough. We need the CHARITY first. For the charity is like the clothes and the clothes are far more important than the hat…
And I have been thinking about that today, as I eat my meat…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.