The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
During that time,
John the Baptist’s disciples approached Jesus
saying:
“Why, while we Pharisees fast,
aren’t your students fasting? »
Jesus answered them:
“Can wedding guests be in mourning?
while the Bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them;
then he will fast. »
Source: AELF
Meditation Father Nicolas de Boccard
As Marcel Gauchet wrote: “the Christian religion is the religion of abandoning religion”. It is a transition from religion with its rites, ceremonies, the culture it creates, to faith. We are no longer measured by external gestures of faith, piety, but by the orientation of our entire being towards someone: towards Christ.
Of course, since we are embodied beings, we need rituals, gestures, ceremonies that manifest and testify to our belonging to Christ: almsgiving, prayer, fasting – which we also find in all religions. But they are secondary, not primary. It is no longer a law and a rule that measures us with codified practices, such as that of fasting, it is the love that is in our heart for Christ and for our brothers and that can bring answers incomprehensible to our world. Only God knows what is in the heart of each person, He alone sees and His view is what we must consider, not human.
Little by little we are discovering a new age: the freedom of God’s children. “Love and do as you please” wrote Saint Augustine. This is undoubtedly the reason why the Church continues on its way, despite attacks, civilizational changes, despite the constant announcement of its decline… It has promises of eternal life! As St. John summarizes in the prologue of his gospel: “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came to us through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17).