Lenten Fasting

As I've re-embraced my Catholic faith the past few years, I've struggled with fasting during Lent. I don't really have a diagnosed medical reason for not fasting, but I do have a relatively high metabolism coupled with eating habits (5-6 small meals a day) that make the fasting guidelines of "one meal, two small meals and no snacks" a bit difficult. In fact, last Ash Wednesday, I stumbled (mentally) through an early afternoon meeting and then started to see stars by mid-afternoon. At that point, and given past fainting spells, I decided to break the fast. My priest assured me that this would count as a medical condition since fainting while driving home would be bad. He also gave me wonderful input on other ways to fast, for instance, fasting from TV watching.

On a related note, I received this prayer from a friend:

A Lenten Prayer For Families

Fast from judging others; feast on Christ in them.
Fast from wanting more; feast on being thankful.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on enjoyment.
Fast from negatives; feast on positives.
Fast from stress; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from fear; feast on truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from gossip; feast on silence.
Fast from fighting; feast on peace. Amen.

Good advice for everyone, yet hard for most of us to put into practice. May this Lenten season bring you closer to God through fasting.