GOSPEL REFLECTION, FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2026

Matthew 9:14-15.  Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus why they did not fast together as did John the Baptist and his disciples, or the Pharisee rabbis with theirs.  Jesus’ striking answer told them that John’s disciples fasted according to the Law, as did the Pharisees.  But his own disciples do not fast because Jesus himself was fully present to them but will do so soon when he is no longer with them, a veiled hint at his death.  They likely did not yet fully understand that this will soon come.

They were to rejoice at the direct presence of Jesus among them.  To be with him was a matter of joy.  Those who can walk fully in the presence of the Lord, walk in the radiance of his presence.  When he is gone from direct presence among them will be the time to fast with spiritual intention, waiting for his return.

For us, fasting is not at all like the secular practice of trying to lose weight, for example, but is a matter of  spiritual discipline.  We are guided in that discipline by the Church so that we do not weigh it down with other than spiritual intentions and practices.  It is a discipline to be undertaken with others – we fast as a community, not just as an individual simply as a matter of personal preference.  We fast together as a community living without the direct presence of the Lord as we wait for his return.  Then we shall feast with him again.

In the meantime we rely on loving attention to the Eucharist, to prayer, to the Word of God, and to his unseen presence in our midst as a community – ‘wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,’ as Jesus tells us in the gospel.

So now, we fast; the time will come to feast again with the Lord in his Paschal presence.