Fasting with our eyes

As we saw yesterday, St. John Chrysostom tells us that we have to fast with more than just our mouths, we must also fast with our whole bodies. He tells us first to fast with our eyes. So how do we fast with our eyes?

Think, look back over the past week. What have we looked at during the course of a day. As we "cruise" the Internet, where has our mouse taken us? When we interact with others at work or out and about, where do our eyes fall? What are we reading during this Lenten season? Spiritual books? The Bible? Have we used our eyes at all, even for a few moments, during this Lenten season for spiritual things? 

 

These are just a small sample of the things that we must think about as we progress through Great Lent. Fasting from certain foods means nothing if we continue in our normal, sinful ways.

As Christians, our eyes should be ever heavenward. They should be looking for the salvation of our God. Our eyes should read the words of Scripture or other spiritual books along with our favorite novels. Our eyes should look for those we can lend a hand to. Our eyes should look for purpose, meaning and usefulness in the technologies that God has made available in this world.

In short, our eyes must look for the Kingdom of Heaven. The Church does not ask us to stop looking at the good and proper things of this world that we enjoy, but it does ask us to seek first God's Kingdom, then all things shall find their proper place.