Let me say that I've never run into anyone who uses quotes like the below who has been heard to mean "Fasting is wonderful and essential. Just remember to also be a good guy." It is more often understood to be saying, "God, I thank You that I am not like other men. At least I'm not an ass. Is Five Guys still open?" Chrysostom's (and others') point is not that one can substitute bonhomie for a hummus and relish tray, but that fasting is the beginning of a process that includes a heightening of Christian virtues. As they say these days "don't get it twisted" - high fiving with one hand while you hold a cheeseburger-all-the-way-with-jalapeños in the other is not fasting in the spirit intended. It's not even fasting.
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Finally someone has said it. I have these same thoughts at the beginning of every Great Fast when I see these types of posts coming out of the woodwork.
ReplyDeleteIt's the spiritual cousin of "you're not pro-life, you're just pro-birth."
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