Maymay sa Magbalantay

“Many people think that fasting is about suffering—as if God wants us to be hungry, uncomfortable, or miserable during Lent. But that is not true.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus helps us understand the real meaning of fasting. He says that there is a time to feast and a time to fast. And the reason for fasting is not punishment, but longing.

We fast not because God wants to make us suffer, but because He wants to awaken our hunger—not just for food, but for the Lord.

When we are always full—full of food, noise, entertainment, distractions—we no longer feel our deeper hunger. Fasting creates a small emptiness in us, and that emptiness reminds us of something important: we were made for more than bread.

That is why fasting can be powerful. It teaches us to ask honest questions:

What am I really hungry for?

What do I run to when I feel empty?

Who truly satisfies my heart?

Lent invites us to fast so that our hearts can become more sensitive to God again. When we feel hunger, we remember our dependence. When we feel weakness, we remember our need for grace.

So this Lent, let us not fast with resentment or pride. Let us fast with openness. Let our hunger lead us not to complaints, but to prayer.

And may every hunger we feel remind us of our deepest hunger of all—the hunger for God.”