“ . . . put new wine into fresh wine-skins, and both are preserved.”

In our “Super Size” society where obesity is epidemic, fasting is treated as an anachronism, a leftover from an earlier time, to be practiced only during Lent. The hunger for more has led to a nearly 4-inch increase in the size of the average dinner plate in the past 30 years. Our waistbands have expanded, too.

A new diet book, The 9-Inch Diet: Exposing the Big Conspiracy in America, claims that the problem is the portions. The authors believe that because of visual cues, we eat more from a larger plate than we would on a smaller plate. The solution? Switch to 9-inch plates.

Aside from its obvious health benefits, The 9-inch Diet could be the first step toward rediscovering the spiritual benefits of fasting.

Before Jesus began His ministry, He fasted for 40 days. And, as a devout Jew, He probably fasted every week and most certainly once a year on the Day of Atonement. In the Sermon on the Mount, He linked fasting with prayer and alms giving as one of the three cornerstones of spiritual life. But in today’s Gospel, when John’s disciples questioned Him about fasting, Christ said this was not the appropriate time and place for it.

From the way the question was put to Him, it seems that John’s disciples followed the practice of the Pharisees, which was to fast twice a week on market day. Then, the Pharisees would appear in public, their heads covered with ashes, their garments patched and threadbare, their feet bare. All could see they were fasting. It was this public display of fasting that rankled Jesus. He saw fasting as something to be done in private - - as He had done, alone in the desert.

The Pharisees’ tattered garments reminded Him of old, patched wine skins that cannot contain new wine. Like the fermentation that takes place inside fresh wine skins, fasting is a transformative process that stretches us spiritually. 

In Matthew 6: 16-18, Jesus had warned that those who fasted in public had already received their reward. This thinking was so contrary to Jewish custom that Matthew, Mark and Luke all recounted the story in their Gospels.

Jesus went further and said, when His disciples fasted, they should anoint their heads with oil and wear their finest garments, as if celebrating. He saw fasting as the joyful surrender to God.

When Christ spoke about fasting, He didn’t say, ‘If you fast,’  He said, “When you fast . . .” He expects us to fast.

Fasting is meant to be practiced throughout the year. It is a way to discipline our bodies, humble our spirits, purify our minds and clarify our thinking about the difference between needs and wants. It can be a day of bread and water, a meal skipped, a dessert passed up. And, if fasting poses a health problem, it can be simply another form of self-denial such as a day without TV, the Internet, video games; or a day without making a phone call.

Fasting in any form increases our hunger for God.