Fasting as solidarity
The discipline of fasting is one of the most universal religious practices, and Catholics have just ended their period of Lent. James Carroll just published a thoughtful meditation on the meaning of the Lenten period during the recession:
Lent remains an important part of the Catholic calendar, but self-denial now, more suggested than required, aims less at penitence than at compassionate identification with, as Pope Benedict wrote at the beginning of this year’s Lent, the impoverished “situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live.” Like Lent, today’s economic crisis can help stir that overdue empathy.
As this excerpt suggests, Carroll writes about how the meaning of Lent has changed since the Great Depression. Whereas it was previously about penance, it is now about embracing self-restraint as a spiritual act of empathy, compassion and solidarity.
If spirituality is an eternal human experience it is interesting to see its expression evolve over time. In the Catholic Church, fasting and self-denial as the cultivation of spirituality, Carroll seems to be saying, is now about expanding consciousness of the oneness of humanity. It’s the spirit of the age.
