The Labour Spokesman
At the spiritual level one of the major challenges that we constantly face is the fact that at our daily lives are filled with so much worrying, hustling and noisiness, that our communion with God breaks down and becomes ignored. Far more often than not, it is only when faced with great difficulties or suffering that we remember God and turn to Him for help. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic may very well have helped many of us in that regard.
The season of Lent could and should help to remind us that God should always be first and foremost in our consciousness, recalling to mind that He called on His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to take on human form, enter our physical world, minister unto us, suffer with us, and ultimately make the supreme sacrifice by dying on The Cross for all of mankind. Christ’s sojourn in the desert, fasting and praying for forty days and forty nights, set the example for us — one which we can follow throughout this Lenten season.
Thus, as we fast throughout this season, we should be reminded and continue to learn from the timeless message contained at Chapter 4, Verse 4 of Saint Matthew’s Gospel: ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ It was our blessed Saviour who taught us that true fasting is doing the will of the Heavenly Father, enabling us to enter into closer, deeper and more meaningful communication with Him. For an absolute certainty, fasting is truly the very soul of prayer.