Prayer and fasting are the wings of charity.
Msgr. Charles Murphy
Who is Msgr. Charles Murphy?
Monsignor Charles M. Murphy is the director of the permanent diaconate for the Diocese of Portland, Maine. He is the author of a number of scholarly articles and several books, including The Spirituality of Fasting, At Home on the Earth, Wallace Stevens: A Spiritual Poet in a Secular Age, and Belonging to God. Murphy is the former academic dean and rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and served as part of the editorial group working in Italy under Cardinal Ratzinger on the third draft of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which became the fourth and final version.
Murphy serves as consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on catechetics, reviewing materials for conformity with the Catechism. He served as chair of the editorial committee that produced the pastoral letter on environmental issues by the Bishops of the Boston Province and he served as a consultant to the USCCB for their statement on global warming. He has been the pastor of four parishes in Maine and has served his diocese in ecumenical and educational capacities. Murphy holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University, a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree in classics from the College of the Holy Cross.
The Spirituality Of Fasting
In this episode, Msgr. Charles Murphy talks about the spirituality of fasting. He explains:
– Why do we fast during Lent?
– What are the rules for fasting in Lent? There’s a more relaxed view especially in the west that this isn’t a norm…is that true? Is it necessary to just fast from food or from any idol that has taken root in our life?
– How can we make fasting a spiritual experience?
– What changes can we hope to see in ourselves by fasting?
– What do we do when we encounter temptations?
Lenten Fasting
Lenten fasting is a common practice in our home. My dad fasted every year, year after year, without eating or drinking from 7 to 5 in the evening. Every year, he did it without fuss. He went about all his duties without a whisper of complaint. As adults, everyone in my home does some form of fasting and abstinence during Lent. We’re also vegetarian (no eggs, meat or fish) on Wednesdays since our family is consecrated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and on Fridays. Yet, I encounter lots of Catholics who don’t take fasting seriously and further discourage others from this wonderful Lenten practice.
When I reached out to the press secretary of Ave Maria Press, Stephanie Sibal about having Msgr. Charles Murphy on the podcast, I wasn’t sure. However, she was very happy to get us connected and he agreed to to do the podcast. I’m so humbled by God and the people He sends on our podcast. It’s almost mind blowing, how God allows these divine connections to happen. I’m also grateful to Stephanie and especially Msgr. Charles Murphy for agreeing to do this podcast.
I’ve learned so much, especially how fasting can change our spiritual lives. I’m acutely aware of all the subtle things that change in me during Lent but it’s great to hear Msgr. Murphy talk about these things and what to do when we encounter temptations.
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Episode Transcript
Pamela: Okay. So welcome to a new episode of “The Christian Circle Podcast.” Today, we have a new guest, and he’s gonna be talking to us about, “The Spirituality of Fasting.” So, Monsignor Charles Murphy, tell us a little bit about yourself and your ministry first.
Monsignor: All right. I’m a priest of the Diocese of Portland, Maine. I have spent 10 years of my life in Rome. I was a student there and then became Rector of the Pontifical North American College, a seminary for Americans who were becoming priests. And the origin of my book on “The Spirituality of Fasting” was a visit that Pope John Paul II made to our seminary after he came to the United States, following his election as Pope. And he came to visit with us, and it was during Lent. We ate bread and soup at his direction. And then he asked me the question, he said, “I’ve just come back from the United States, and fasting seems to have gone out of the practice of Catholic people. What is going on?” And that prompted me to write this book.
Pamela: Why do we actually fast during Lent? And I know in a lot of European countries, in North America, they don’t follow this practice, so strictly even the Friday fast.
Why do we actually fast during Lent?
Monsignor: Not only during Lent, but at other times in the year, fasting is one of the…what they call the three pillars of piety. Prayer, fasting, and charity. And St. Augustine says that prayer and fasting are the wings of charity. So, we can’t really become loving persons unless we are people of prayer. And we have people who have introduced self-denial through the practice of fasting. Sometimes nowadays they say, “Well, maybe helping your neighbor is better than doing something negative or self-punishing, like fasting.” But that’s missing the whole point. Prayer and fasting are the wings of charity. Lent, of course, is the primary season because that’s the time when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert preparing himself for his mission and giving himself the clarity and the strength to undertake the mission given to him by God. So, 40 days preceding Easter is the big time for prayer and fasting.
Pamela: And there is some power to fasting, right? I mean, when the disciples failed to cast out the demons the Lord says well, you know what?
“This only happens through fasting.”
Monsignor: Exactly. And that’s the difference between fasting and dieting. Dieting is very self-centered, it’s focused on the beauty of my own appearance, and it is not about making ourselves sensitive to the needs of others. And fasting…and there are two kinds of fasting, actually, total fasting and partial fasting. Total fasting is abstaining from all food for a limited period. And it’s an act of humility before God. It is making us through the physical experience of being hungry, aware of how vulnerable we are, and how much we need God’s grace in our life. So, that’s a period of total fast is for a limited period. And in the past, we’ve done that, for example, before receiving Holy Communion. People had a total fast of all food and drink for an extended period. Partial fast is abstaining from food and drink for a limited time to achieve healing in our minds, bodies, and spirits. So, partial fasting, for example, from meat during the Fridays of the year would be an example of that.
Pamela: So, what are the rules for fasting in Lent? So, there’s a more relaxed view in the West that, you know, this isn’t really a norm right now.
But is it necessary to just fast from food or from any idol that has taken root in our life?
Monsignor: Yes, that’s a good point. The fasting helps us to identify the healing we have to have, and the addictions, and the sinful patterns of life that we have drifted into through routines that are not helpful. So, that’s the point of fasting to help us to have clarification about the other changes we have to make in our life.
Pamela: During Lent, are there any specific rules for fasting, for how you should go about it?
Monsignor: Yes. In my book, on “The Spirituality of Fasting,” I identify the Eastern part of the church as a model because it has a more detailed program than the Western part of the church where we live. So, in the Western church, we are told in the United States, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting and abstinence from meat, and then the Fridays of Lent are supposed to be abstinence from meat. But in the Eastern Church, it’s more extensive. And I just share that with you. Two weeks before Lent begins, the Eastern Church observes the abstinence from meat for all of Lent. It’s not just the Fridays of Lent, it’s all of Lent. And one week before Lent begins, they abstain from dairy products and eggs for all of Lent. So, their diet is pretty vegetarian. And I really recommend that as a more serious program for Lent.
Pamela: So,
how can we make fasting a spiritual experience?
Monsignor: All right. One, I’ll give you an example. In my book, I recommend something called the skip a meal program. That means that you pick a day when you are not going to eat one of the usual three meals. I recommend Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday is the day when Judas betrays the Lord, and Friday is the day of his death. So, let’s say Wednesday or Friday, you skip the noon meal. Instead of eating, you spend the time praying. And that way, you’re not focusing on food. And then you give the money that you saved by not eating to some charitable cause. So, you have all three pious practices in one event, prayer, fasting, and charity.
Pamela: Yeah, that sounds good.
So what changes can we hope to see in ourselves, you know, when we are fasting?
Monsignor: I say this that a human person has three dimensions, mind, body, and spirit, and they’re all one. We are a body, we are a mind, and we are a spirit. And by fasting, we transform our bodies into a more loving spirit. And I give the example of St. Anthony in the desert, who lived near the beginning of Christianity. And he practiced fasting, and he lived to be over a 100. People flocked to him because his soul shone beyond… illuminated his body, they could see this man as a compassionate, loving person. And people went to him for his spiritual counsel and advice. And he got to this beautiful state of uniting his mind, body, and spirit through his fasting.
Pamela: Let’s say we have begun this period of lasting, okay, what can we do when we encounter temptations? And this may not just be temptations of food, but of other things as well?
Monsignor: Yes. I think temptations are part of everybody’s life. And to introduce a structure whereby we are a prayerful person, we are not the victim of impulse, we’re thoughtful people. When we have learned the discipline of not responding immediately to our cravings, that will help us to resist temptation.
Pamela: And let’s say somebody now where we’re actually quickly approaching the mid, almost Holy Week in a few weeks. Let’s say somebody has not done anything so far about fasting.
Can they start something now, and what can they actually do?
Monsignor: Oh, that’s a good point. I would say this, immediately, I would eliminate meat from your diet, and not just on the Fridays of Lent but every day of Lent. That’s a luxury food and it’s not just for the value to your health, it’s because of spiritual restraints. So, I think eliminate meat immediately from your diet. And I would say another thing you could do immediately for fasting is to reduce the quantity of your food. Like, I’m suggesting the skip a meal program, reducing the amount of food that we take in every day. And that will help us to be in line with all the people of the world who have far less than we do. And we feel a solidarity with them because of our restraint in what we are consuming. We are a throwaway culture, we are a culture that overconsumes. So, the key is to reduce our consumption.
Pamela: In fact, I just recently read that we throw away 30,000 tons of food every year.
Monsignor: Exactly.
Pamela: Yeah. That’s a lot of food.
Monsignor: Exactly. That’s a lot of wasted food.
Pamela: From your own personal experience, is there something that you would like to share, you know,
last tips or last advice to anybody who’s considering or those who are fasting right now?
Monsignor: All right. I’d like to share this. I made three pilgrimages to the Holy Land, to Israel. And on one of those, I spent an entire day in prayer at the site of the Mount Calvary and the tomb of Christ. I spent 12 hours there without eating and totally absorbed in prayer. And it was a life-changing experience. So, I suggest that if you have a place in your house or where you can go to reflect and to pray for an extended period, a mental prayer, a meditation, I recommend that highly.
Pamela: Okay, great.
If people want to read your book, “The Spirituality of Fasting,” where can they find it online?
Monsignor: Okay. It’s a book published by Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. And it’s available there, and I’m sure it’s available on Amazon as well.
Pamela: Okay. And if people wanna find you online, are you on social media, or something of the sort?
Monsignor: I’m sorry. I don’t have those resources, but it’s been a pleasure to talk with you today. And I thank you for this invitation.
Pamela: Well, thank you so much, Monsignor. Thank you so much.
Monsignor: God bless you, and keep up the good work.