The Pharisees question Jesus about fasting and He responds “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast” (Mark 2:18-22). Jesus pairs this imagery with saying that no one sews new cloth onto an old garment, and that no one pours new wine into old wineskin. Essentially, Jesus is saying that fasting while He is present on Earth is a pointless endeavor. 

Through centuries of rigorous religious practice, which included proper fasting, the Pharisees began to see their God as one obtainable and containable in law and practice. We are now centuries removed from the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Do we tend to see our God as containable in law and practice, or One that is continuously falling in love with us each moment? 

The metaphor of a bride and bridegroom is used by Jesus, St. Paul, and numerous prophets in the Old Testament. Jeremiah writes “I remember the devotion of your youth, how you loved me as a bride” (Jeremiah 2:2). 

Think back to the beginnings of a romantic relationship in your life. Recall the excitement, the searching, the intensity, and the emotion which came with intimately knowing another individual. This is the same level of passion and desire which God has for each of us and wants us to have for Him. Consider the bride on her wedding day. How beautiful and adored she is by not only her groom but all the guests. This is how God cherishes you each and every day. It is not enough to claim that Jesus loves you every day, remember that Jesus is falling in love with you each and every day.

Perhaps there was a time when your Lover left you for a short period, maybe for a business trip or another occasion. Perhaps this brought you such pain and grief, maybe even to the point of not wanting to eat. God does not want us to fast, pray, or do almsgiving, because it is what the Priests tell us to do. Jesus wants us to do these things because we are so in love with the Father in heaven that it is our body’s natural reaction to meditating on His life and death. We should be so passionately in love that we wish to fast to recall his own suffering in the desert. We should not just be in love with God, but we should be continuing to fall in love with God. 

So as you go about your fasting this Lent, reflect on whether you are fasting because it’s “that time of year” or because you are so passionately and intimately in love with your God that you are moved to do so.