A Fast-Free Lent

I am Catholic.

I am twenty-two years old.

And I am not fasting or abstaining this Lent.

And you know what? It's harder than fasting and abstaining.

I wish I were fasting and abstaining. Really. But two conditions prevent me from doing so: hypoglycemia & anemia. Under doctor's and chaplain's orders, I am not allowed to fast or abstain. By doing those things, I am willfully endangering my well-being. Passing out might not do permanent damage, but an eighth concussion very well could.

Some people envy me. They think I'm taking the easy way out or I got lucky. I did, in a way, but not the way they think.

I got lucky, because not being able to fast and abstain with my fellow Catholics is ten times harder than actually fasting and abstaining would be. For someone who is very people-oriented, not moving with the crowd is very, very difficult for me to do. I fear people judging me. By being forced to eat normally during Lent, it refocuses me on the reason that we're supposed to fast and abstain in the first place: to turn our minds and hearts toward God.

The only One who knows my intentions is the One to whom it actually matters. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks or says about me and my dietary peculiarities. It only matters if I take the opportunity for humility and gratitude and allow it to help me grow closer to the Person who suffered so much on my account.

It's easy for me to do things for the unimportant people that I can see. It's much harder for me to do things for the Three Important Persons that I can't see.

It's a message given fairly directly in today's gospel from Matthew 6:

	"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
	Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
	But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
	so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
	And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
	But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
	And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
	But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
	that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."