00:00Hello dear brothers and sisters! We're back again with these "Knowledge to Love" capsules.
00:05And we are now finishing our third reflection on the topic of fasting that our brother Luis proposed to us.
00:14We have seen the importance of this exercise and the need for Christians to live a penitential life,
00:23because without the cross we will hardly reach glory.
00:30I want to propose a fairly simple path for you to advance in your penitential life
00:52and do the fasting gradually so that the body gets used to obeying what you tell it.
01:00First of all, I want to remind you that it is a spiritual path, so it should always be accompanied by prayer.
01:08Without it, it will be truly difficult for fasting to yield results and it will simply become a diet.
01:15And that is not the idea or the intention of fasting.
01:18The first thing I want to tell you is that fasting should be progressive, that is, you have to start moderately and gradually progress in it.
01:29Start then with small sacrifices, like denying yourself a coffee, if you like coffee, a glass of water, a sweet, a dessert, a television program.
01:39This will increase your ability to quit.
01:44Next, second, begin the fast with an appropriate time of prayer.
01:50I recommend preparing it the night before, and spend some time in prayer and offer the day of fasting to God.
01:58Ask the Lord for the grace you need or the sense you want to see strengthened through your fasting.
02:05It can be the things you see, the things you hear, and so on.
02:09Now, throughout the entire day of fasting, dedicate as much time as you can to prayer.
02:19It is advisable to choose a psalm the day before and a phrase from the psalm that you can repeat throughout the day.
02:28For example, Lord, You are my strength, You are my victory.
02:34Or some phrase you found in the psalm that you can remember.
02:38Remember your psalm and its guiding phrase, and pray whenever you can.
02:46Replace physical food with spiritual food.
02:51Third, it is highly recommended that you begin your fast with the Eucharist, if possible.
02:57Find a church where you can attend mass so you can receive communion, preferably before starting your day.
03:04If you cannot, at least make a spiritual communion.
03:07Fourth, once you feel you have made progress with the renunciations, begin with the ecclesiastical fast,
03:16which is the least the church invites us to do on the days set aside for fasting,
03:21which are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
03:24This consists of having bread and coffee for breakfast, not eating anything between meals, and eating something light, making sure you feel a little hungry afterward.
03:35And finally at night the same thing, bread and coffee.
03:39This will help you greatly and will be the beginning of a true fast.
03:44Fifth, the next step is to do a half fast, which consists of starting your day with only bread and water.
03:54You will not eat anything between meals and at the time of your main meal, at midday,
04:00You are going to do a fast in which you will only include vegetables and fruits.
04:05In the afternoon you'll have nothing but bread and water; if it's a busy day you can put a little honey on the bread to regain energy
04:17And then in the evening you can have dinner normally.
04:21It's important not to overdo it at dinner because we might feel bad afterwards.
04:26Have our normal dinner, what we usually eat, as we may be hungrier by that time.
04:32Don't pay too much attention to this, but rather restrain yourself, because otherwise, we go from fasting to gluttony.
04:39So this next step is important.
04:43And well, once you've gotten used to this type of fasting, we'll move on to the complete bread and water fast.
04:51which consists of eating only bread and water throughout the day.
04:57Similarly, you can have a spoonful of honey or some jam, something like that, mid-morning and mid-afternoon to regain energy.
05:08Remember that it is a work of the spirit, so don't expect results as if every action had a reaction.
05:16Sometimes a small effort on our part corresponds to an immense grace from God.
05:21and vice versa, a great human effort and we can see few spiritual results.
05:28God knows how and when to thank us.
05:31What you can be sure of is that by starting to fast you will open your life to holiness and it will change.
05:40And it will change radically.
05:44Fasting is the path to Christian perfection.
05:47So, my dear brother, encourage fasting.
05:52I'm sure it will be a great tool for your life.
05:55You, who, as you said in your letter, are aspiring to holiness.
06:00And hopefully we can all aspire to this as well, although the path to holiness will always pass through the cross.
06:06And well, that concludes our segment on fasting.
06:10And we'll see you, God willing, in our next segment.
06:13Meanwhile, if you found this interesting and beneficial for your spiritual life,
06:18Share it on your social networks.
06:19See you in the next capsule.
06:21Until then, many blessings.
06:23Hello, hello.
06:33Hello.
06:33Hello.
06:35Hi.
06:35Hey.
06:36eded.
06:36Hey.
06:37Hello, Diana.
06:38Bye.
06:39Bye.
06:39Bye.
06:44Bye.
