What the Church teaches
Fasting is Good for Christian Stewards
Many who are serious about using the season of Lent for spiritual preparation find that the discipline of fasting helps them in a number of ways. A few reasons to fast during Lent come quickly to mind:
Fasting increases our sense of gratitude.
We celebrate the blessing of food as coming from the Lord. Our denial of food for a time serves to keep us all the more aware of this essential gift. Moreover, how can we not be grateful when we end our fast? Tasting food again serves to celebrate our discipline, persistence and commitment to prayer during a fast.
Fasting speeds up our journey to self-discovery.
We are creatures of habit, and eating is a habit. When we fast, it jostles our daily routine. It messes up our schedule. This becomes a perfect time to reflect on our routines and how we want our lives to move forward in a positive manner. Take time ordinarily spent on eating to write a reflection, meditate or engage in some other form of reflection.