Friday – February 20
Scripture: Isaiah 58:6–12
“Is not this the fast that I choose?”
Isaiah refuses to let fasting become self-centered spirituality. True fasting loosens the bonds of injustice, shares bread with the hungry, shelters the unhoused, and refuses to hide from human suffering.
Lent is not spiritual self-improvement. It is spiritual reorientation toward neighbor and world.
If we fast from chocolate but feast on resentment, we have missed the point. If we give up luxury but ignore injustice, we have misunderstood the invitation.
The prophet’s vision is bold: when justice flows, light breaks forth like the dawn.
This is the Church I dream of—a people who do not merely welcome the marginalized but champion their causes; who stand firm in acknowledging the dignity of every human being; who say no to systems that reduce people to commodities.
The fast God chooses restores community. It repairs breaches. It rebuilds ruined cities.
Perhaps this Lent is less about subtraction and more about addition—adding courage, adding compassion, adding advocacy.
When we align our lives with God’s justice, we become, in Isaiah’s words, “repairers of the breach.”
Reflection Questions:
- Who benefits from my comfort? Who is harmed by my indifference?
- What injustice might God be asking me to confront this season?
- How can my Lenten practice bless someone beyond myself?
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