Lenten Fasting

Recently a parishioner asked me about fasting and Lent. Here is part of my reply:

   If you are interested in trying this discipline, pick out one meal a week, and do it.

   When I first started to fast, I thought I was gonna die I was so hungry. But after mastering one meal a week, then pick a different day and do a second meal a week. What I do is to pick 2 days a week. I fast from midnight until 3 p.m. That is 15 hours. I drink lots of non-caloric liquids during about 9 of those 15 hours (hopefully, I'm sleeping during at least the other 6 hours). I do that on two non-consecutive days. I usually will also break the fast before I allow anyone to discover what I am doing. I try to make it that secretive . . . sort of like what Jesus says about prayer . . . same section from Matthew.

   However, this is not really a Lenten discipline for me, as I attempt to do this 12 months a year.