I notice similarities between myself and the people to whom God sent Isaiah in today’s reading. I seek God, day after day, desiring to know His ways (Is 58:2). The Israelites complain and perhaps “scold” God for not noticing their fasting. I sometimes wonder if God is listening to me.
Isaiah tells the people that God does not want a day of fasting while treating others unjustly (driving the laborers) and resorting to fighting and quarreling to get what they want when the fast is over. If this is how I engage in fasting, the action is about me, not about expressing my love for God and my neighbors.
Isaiah offers a description of the fasting God desires.
This rather is the fasting that I wish,
Releasing those bound unjustly
Untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed
Breaking every yoke; (Is 58:6)
I hear in this verse very little about fasting from food. Instead, I hear a call to “fast” from placing heavy burdens on others or treating them unjustly. I hear a call to share what I have with others in need of the necessities of life. I hear a call to speak up for the marginalized and to stand as an accomplice of those working to end the yoke of systemic racism. I hear a call not to forget the suffering of the Ukrainian people. I hear a call to pray and take whatever actions I can take within the concrete realities of my life to ease the world’s sufferings.
So, as I move through this Lent, I will seek to keep my focus on what God wants for me and the whole of humanity. In doing so, I trust that God will not ignore me or find fault in my “fasting” but grants me a contrite spirit and open heart, mind, and soul listening for God’s call.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit (Ps 51:19)
Gladyce Janky
I joined the School of Pharmacy and Health Profession as a chaplain in 2015, subsequently working in the Law and Graduate Schools and Heider College of Business. I continued working with distance graduate students after moving to Sun City, AZ, in 2021. I transitioned to my current life phase in July 2023, when I retired. I am a graduate of the CSP program with two master’s degrees and hold certificates in the History of the Ignatian Tradition and Spiritual Direction and Directed Retreats.
Writing reflections helps me break open the transformative power of scripture. The message is alive and relevant to me when I put myself into the story. Jesus is not just “back there.” He is here accompanying me. I share what I write with others to invite them to listen to how God is inviting them to greater spiritual freedom.
