FEEDING THE SOUL What Lenten sacrifice really means

Forty days is all it takes to give up all those worldly pleasures, especially the indulgence to gastronomic desires. The principle of fasting may have been practiced by many Catholics for ages but do they really understand what they’re doing it for?

In the Catholic calendar, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. This period of Lent is when the faithful is encouraged to sacrifice his earthly indulgences such as practicing the idea of fasting and abstinence in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Traditionally, it’s when Catholics are encouraged to live an ascetic life and to give up their luxurious lifestyle for the entire 40 days.

“Lent is the most important season of the Catholic Church more than Christmas because

it is Lent that leads to Easter, when we are reminded that Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins,” explains Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon on

cbcpnews.com.

In his message to Catholics for this Lenten Season, Pope Benedict XVI was also quoted by

cbcpnews.com as saying, “The time leading up to Easter is a time of ‘metanoia,’ a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time.”

According to Catholic teachings, one should only eat one full meal but may also eat two smaller portions of meals to sustain his strength for the whole day. Those two small meals should not be greater than one full meal. Moreover, eating meat

or poultry is forbidden during the days of abstinence, in which Catholics are also encouraged to carry out an act of penance for their sins.

For ages, many Filipino Catholics have also made it customary to avoid meat products on their menu during the Lenten Season, especially on Fridays. Others eliminate meat but replace it for rather more expensive food choices.

“The point of abstinence is depriving ourselves of the things that give us comfort and luxury. It is imposing discipline on our body so that we may free up our souls,” Bishop Baylon adds. For him, fasting is not only the idea of removing meat from a meal. A more meaningful way of fasting and abstinence is when a person sacrifices eating his favorite food and drinks, or at least, reducing the amount of it.

On the other hand, the Lenten Season is not just all about denying one’s self to what he desires and craves for. Bishop Baylon reminds Catholics, especially the young ones, that it is a great opportunity to learn about the love of God for mankind, and for people to learn to follow God’s love for everyone. “Fasting, alms giving and abstaining this Lent remind us of the great sacrifice that Christ did for human salvation,” he said on the CBCP website.

But the idea is simple. Doing good things in the name of God is not only done 40 days in a year. Sacrificing meat alone does not guarantee one’s salvation. It’s not only the body to be cleansed but more importantly, it’s one’s soul that should be freed from impurities. Bishop Baylon has this message: “As we are reminded that we will return to ashes when we die, let us also be aware that there is one aspect of our life that will stay: our soul.”