"Why Catholics Fast: Searching for the Tradition"
A reflection on the spiritual discipline of fasting in the Catholic tradition, starting with the Gospels and ending with post-Vatican II attitudes.
"There is a place for fasting in contemporary Catholic spirituality, but the practice must be based in love--love of God and love of all God's creatures....It must be rooted in an imitation of Jesus in the desert, in a personal acknowledgment of our hunger for God's word and in an awareness of our solidarity with those who hunger for bread. In the final analysis, fasting is not an end in itself, but a practice that enhances our love of God and of neighbor."
America, February 28, 2002