Prayer & Worship

Unfortunately your browser does not hava JavaScript capabilities which are required to exploit full functionality of our site. This could be the result of two possible scenarios:

You are using an old web browser, in which case you should upgrade it to a newer version. We recommend the latest version of Firefox.

You have disabled JavaScript in you browser, in which case you will have to enable it to properly use our site. Information on enabling JavaScript.

Fasting


1 Tm 4:3	abstention from food is evil [1]verse used to challenge Catholic teaching	Some anti-Catholics try to use this verse to decry the Catholic practice of fasting. We as Catholics believe God's creation is good, just as the bible says. But we also know that "fasting" is used throughout the NT, even by Jesus, as the citations below will show. So something else must be going on in this passage.
1 Tm 6:20	avoid profanities of "false knowledge"	Paul's conclusion makes clear what he is talking about throughout 1 Timothy. In the Greek, the word for "knowledge" is "gnosis." This was the term used for the secret knowledge taught by the Gnostic heresy of that time. They wrongly believed that matter was evil and only spirit was good. They had falsely concluded that marriage and eating were evil because they perpetuated our material lives. Paul is giving Timothy instruction on why and how to avoid the Gnostic heresy and their "false gnosis."
Mk 7:18-19	Christ declares all food clean
1 Tm 4:4-5	God's creations are good	Here again Paul is addressing a particular aspect of the Gnostic heresy and their belief that matter is evil.
Dn 10:3	Daniel fasts for 3 weeks
Tb 12:8	Prayer is good with fasting
Mt 9:15	Jesus: disciples to fast in the future	Jesus tells of how His followers will fast in the future after He is gone.
Mk 2:20	Jesus: disciples to fast in the future
Lk 5:35	Jesus: disciples to fast in the future
Mt 6:16-18	Jesus' rules concerning fasting
Mt 17:20	Jesus: fast needed to cast demon out	Here Jesus describes a situation where fasting is a requirement.
Mk 9:28	Jesus: needed to cast out this demon
Lk 2:36-38	Anna in prayer and fasting
AA 13:3	prayer/fasting preparations	Even in the earliest days of the Church, prayer and fasting was an important practice.
AA 14:22	prayer with fasting
AA 27:33	Apostles in prayer with fasting
Er 8:21-23	fasting before God	Ezra proclams a fast before God, asking God to show them the right path they are to follow; and God responds favorably.
Ps 68:10-12	fasting for the soul	Fasting helps our soul. We humble ourselves before God.
Je 36:9	All of Jerusalem called to fast	Needed to show they have turned away from their wicked ways; and to place their supplications before the Lord.
Jl 1:4	sanctification through fasting	Fasting is used to prepare ourselves before God

Notes:

[1]: verse used to challenge Catholic teaching