At today’s blessed 7am Mass of the Annunciation, five boys showed up to serve from our school. “You can tell he’s a good altar boy,” one of the sacristans told me, “because he serves the Mass not just for the chocolate.” There is a special drawer in the sacristy filled with fun-sized chocolate bars, and each server gets to choose one Baby Ruth, Snickers, Crunch, Mr. Goodbar, or Butterfinger after Mass. These treats are certainly an incentive to serve at the altar, but I evacuated the chocolate drawer on Ash Wednesday, and the boys are still coming to serve. Today, however, I replenished the drawer and announced, after the final blessing, that a Feast Day like today merits chocolate. They rushed the drawer and selected their poisons.
But I cannot join them, for I must fast, even on this feast day. I have eye surgery in an hour and must fast from midnight before the procedure. No one likes to fast, I suppose, but all Catholics used to fast from midnight before the morning Mass. That’s one reason Masses were as early as possible, and one reason we hope to get early surgery appointments. But if I can fast from midnight before my surgery, surely I can fast from midnight before receiving the Body of Christ.
I’m hoping my surgery will improve my vision today, and I would be grateful for a prayer or two from you. But in the long run, my eyes are not half as important as my soul. The blessed Eucharist heals my soul, while the surgeon today, hopefully, will heal my left eye. If I can fast for my physical healing, surely I can fast for my spiritual healing. Do American Catholics still fast? You bet we do—before our surgeries. More American Catholics are discovering the value of the fast before Mass, such as those five rug rats from the school this morning. Their Snickers and Baby Ruths tasted all the better for having been the first food of the morning, after they had received the Bread of Life at Holy Mass.
But I cannot join them, for I must fast, even on this feast day. I have eye surgery in an hour and must fast from midnight before the procedure. No one likes to fast, I suppose, but all Catholics used to fast from midnight before the morning Mass. That’s one reason Masses were as early as possible, and one reason we hope to get early surgery appointments. But if I can fast from midnight before my surgery, surely I can fast from midnight before receiving the Body of Christ.
I’m hoping my surgery will improve my vision today, and I would be grateful for a prayer or two from you. But in the long run, my eyes are not half as important as my soul. The blessed Eucharist heals my soul, while the surgeon today, hopefully, will heal my left eye. If I can fast for my physical healing, surely I can fast for my spiritual healing. Do American Catholics still fast? You bet we do—before our surgeries. More American Catholics are discovering the value of the fast before Mass, such as those five rug rats from the school this morning. Their Snickers and Baby Ruths tasted all the better for having been the first food of the morning, after they had received the Bread of Life at Holy Mass.
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