Temporary Inconvenience – Permanent Improvement
About thirteen years ago, a woman I know was having a crisis in her family, and needed nothing short of a miracle for the problem to be resolved. So she began to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water for her family situation. Her friends and family were less than enthusiastic about her fasting. They said that people would think she was a fanatic, and that she would make herself sick. Despite the negativity around her, she stuck with it. Within a year, not only was the problem resolved, but it was resolved in a way that could only have been orchestrated by God! In thanksgiving, she continued to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, but now she was fasting for Our Lady’s intentions, for Her peace plan.
She is amazed at all the blessings that have come her way during these years. She attributes it to prayer and fasting. She has also experienced some major trials, but claims that the fasting, along with prayer, has helped turn some difficult situations into blessings.
Our Lady has been asking us for 30 years now to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. But how many of us take this request seriously? Most of us can come up with all kinds of excuses why we cannot fast. A poster that my colleague hung up in our shared classroom says, “You can’t possibly hit the ball if you’re thinking about all the possible ways you can miss.” Isn’t that the truth? We don’t need to hit a home run on the first time at bat. Visionary Vicka suggests that we start out slowly in fasting, doing perhaps a modified fast and then work up to one day of fasting before eventually working up to two days.
When I first came back from Medjugorje, I wanted to live the messages, but like everyone else, I did not think I could do a bread and water fast, so I began doing a “Lenten” type fast on Wednesdays and Fridays – not eating between meals. I did that for months before I worked up to the bread and water fast. It really is not as hard as it seems. I read somewhere that one way to encourage yourself to persevere on fast day is to tell yourself that it is only temporary, and that tomorrow you can eat normally. “Temporary inconvenience – permanent improvement!” And oh, what an improvement it is!
Ask for the grace and it will be given to you. Our Lady would not ask us to do something that was not possible to do. Our Lady knows that our fasting will not only help Her peace plan for the world, but will help our own lives as well. Ask and you shall receive. With God all things are possible.
Of course, if your health does not permit, Our Lady would not want you to do a bread and water fast, but there are many other things you can fast from on those days – sweets, TV, computer, gossip, complaining, etc. Vicka tells us that Our Lady says that a bread and water fast is the best way to fast, but not the only way to fast.
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In the last few months, there has been a much more serious tone to Our Lady’s messages, as if time is running short. I feel Her prompting me to help Her gather an army of people who will fast and make a difference in the world. I hope to include more fasting articles and stories in this newsletter over the coming year, to encourage everyone to persevere. If you have a story or a tip to share about fasting that you think will help our readers, please send it to us for possible publication.
Please help dry Our Lady’s tears. Remember, fasting is only a temporary inconvenience.
http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/
http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/
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