Fasten dealer Tuesday – prepare for a quick day

Date: March 4, 2025

Tuesday of fertility is an important day. It is the day we prepare for Lent. It is a day when we indulge in a little when we realize that we will deliberately refuse the things we might have.

Tomorrow is one of two days recommended for fasting in the Bischofskirche. What is involved in fasting varies considerably; It can be as little as if you refuse the meat until twenty -four hours. My own practice is a 12 -hour rejection of food. I usually eat breakfast before 6.30 a.m. and then I will break fasting at 6.30 p.m. You can consume as many drinks as you want.

It was my time at Hartford Seminary (now the Hartford International University of Religion and Peace) that taught me the gift of this practice. At least one third of the student body was Muslims. And her compliance with the Ramadan was impressive (no food and drink from sunrise to sunset). But what is more important, I was reminded that there are so many lessons from fasting – you do this as a modest act of solidarity with all those who are hungry in the world. It is reminded again how much a gift is a reliable source of food and most importantly focus on God. In response to the Muslim witness, I started fasting how it was necessary in the Bischofirche. As you plan tomorrow, I invite you to do the same.

The very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of the Virginia Theological Seminary and President of General Theological Seminary.

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