Fasting with our ears

As we continue this look at fasting with our whole body, we come to our ears. St. John tells us that we must fast with our ears.

This is an easy one! We all know that dangers of gossip and judgment. We know that we are called to refrain from these things, yet it seems that these two sins almost always crop up in our lives, they are almost always a part of our confession.

While the understanding of what it means to fast with our ears is somewhat easy, to understand how to do this is a bit different. But isn't it this way with almost any sin. We know the difference between right and wrong. We know what is sinful and what is not. We certainly know what it good and righteous and what is not.

Sadly, as human beings, we have an infinite capacity to rationalize away our sins. We find every excuse for our sins, from our actions being just to our actions not really being sinful at all. We deceive ourselves on all accounts.

For the remainder of this Lenten season, let our hears hear the words of prayer, let our ears hear the thrice holy hymn that is sung on high, let our ears hear the still small voice of God. This is fasting with our ears.