by Alina Kadumbattuparambil 

PERTH: On Friday, 18th February, Our Lady Queen of Apostles Parish in Riverton held its first 24-hour community fast to commemorate the start of the 2016 Lenten Season and reflect on what the Jubilee Year of Mercy means for the youth of the parish. The event, called FAST24, attracted more than 40 people of all ages. It was designed to help adult parishioners recognise the importance of being witnesses of our Catholic Faith to the youth of the parish through the Eucharistic Fast and Feast (Holy Mass).

“This is the first retreat where I have fasted for 24 hours and feel really proud of it. With lots of activities and sessions there was never a time when I did not give my full attention and involvement. It was a joy to see so many youth getting involved in this event,” said one youthful participant who completed the 24-hour fast.

FAST24 began with the Stations of the Cross on the Friday evening, and finished on the Saturday evening with the Holy Mass. In between the Stations of the Cross and the Mass, there were games, workshops and activities organised by the Our Lady Queen of Apostles (Pallotine) Youth Ministry. A highlight of FAST24 was the 45-minute silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the opportunity to partake in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before the Mass.

Participants also had the option to try sleeping overnight on the floor of the Parish Centre using cardboard boxes, to appreciate the uncomfortable conditions that homeless people might be experiencing. Filled with fun yet meaningful activities, one parent who attended with family members remarked that FAST24 was a good way to fast and meet new people with the same passion: “FAST24 is an awesome experience. It is the best motivation to complete the 24 hour fasting; along with friends and family members,” he said.

On the Friday night, participants were given a tour of the main church building, led by the Western Australia representative of the Union of Catholic Apostolate (UAC). Participants learnt about St Vincent Pallotti, the founder of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (the Pallottines), to appreciate how one person could make a big difference in our Holy Church. Participants also found out more about the parish’s Pallottine heritage, such as the historical contributions of the Pallottines to indigenous community through the various pictures and icons around the Parish.

On the Saturday, the participants who stayed overnight woke at dawn to pray together and then take a walk to the Canning River for teambuilding activities by the beautiful riverside.

Because of the fast, lunchtime was replaced with singing Praise and Worship led by youth leader Daniel Thomas, followed by a workshop and role-play activity called “See, Judge and Act”. The role-play activity was interactive and thought-provoking, sparking a conversation about how we can respond to others in need through outreach and mission work. Guest presenters Sherlyn Khong and Sylvester Singh from ACTS29Mission, flew from Singapore to Perth to share their firsthand stories about volunteering for mission work in the Philippines.

The overall feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. One youth participant had this to say: “FAST24 has been such a great experience to become closer to God. I enjoyed every part of FAST24. I learned the simplest things that can help me be a better person. I loved making the t-shirts and it was a great way to display how awesome FAST24 was. I was really surprised that the fasting didn’t affect me too much, and I was able to enjoy fasting because we did it together. I would love to come back and do this again.”

More importantly, FAST24 was an extraordinary experience for all the young people that attended. Thanks to Parish Priest Fr Paul Manickathan for supporting FAST24 and finding innovative ways for the youth to be more involved in the Riverton parish community!

by David Tham

FAST24 is a step forward towards making a good faith effort to prepare ourselves properly to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

The Eucharistic Fast assists us in preparing to receive Holy Communion wholly—body and soul. The fast is a physical mortification that strengthens our spiritual focus on the Lord, so that we may humbly encounter the divine Saviour who offers Himself to us through the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The purpose of the Eucharist Fast can be traced back to an ancient tradition in our Catholic Church.  In Acts of the Apostles (13:2) we find evidence of fasting connected with the liturgy. In his writings, St Augustine tells us that a more normative practice of fasting before receiving Holy Communion appears throughout the Church after the legalisation of Christianity in 313 AD.

The specific requirements of the Eucharistic Fast have changed over the centuries.  For example, until 1964, the Eucharistic Fast began at midnight. On 21 Nov 1964, Pope Paul VI reduced the fast to a period of one hour.  Today, Canon 919 of the Code of Canon Law states, “One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion.”

Nevertheless, many people today still wonder why the Catholic Church encourages fasting.

In Dominicae Cenae (1980), Pope John Paul II lamented the modern-day problem of people not being properly disposed to receive Holy Communion, even to the point of being in a state of serious mortal sin. “In fact, what one finds most often is not so much a feeling of unworthiness as a certain lack of interior willingness, if one may use this expression, a lack of Eucharistic ‘hunger’ and ‘thirst,’ which is also a sign of lack of adequate sensitivity towards the great sacrament of love and a lack of understanding of its nature,” said Pope John Paul II.

The reason why Catholics are encouraged to fast is because we are charged to convert our whole lives—body and soul—to the Lord.  St Paul reminds us: “Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may be revealed” (2 Cor 4:10).

This conversion process involves doing penance—including bodily mortification, like fasting—for our sins and weaknesses, which in turn strengthens and heals us.

In the Old Testament, fasting prepared individuals to receive the action of God and to be placed in His presence. For instance, Moses (Ex 34:28) fasted 40 days atop Mount Sinai as he received the Ten Commandments. Elijah (I Kings 19:8) fasted 40 days as he walked to Mount Horeb to encounter God.

Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus Himself fasted 40 days as He prepared to begin His public ministry (Mt 4:1ff) and encouraged fasting (Mt 6:16-18).

Fasting is a corporal work that helps to enhance the spiritual disposition we need to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. In his Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini (1966), Pope Paul VI wrote: “Mortification aims at the liberation of man, who often finds himself, because of concupiscence, almost chained by his own senses. Through ‘corporal fasting’ man regains strength, and the wound inflicted on the dignity of our nature by intemperance is cured by the medicine of a salutary abstinence.”

In simple words, the fast before receiving Holy Communion creates a physical hunger and thirst for the Lord, which in turn augments the spiritual hunger and thirst we ought to have.  We fast so as not to spoil our “appetite”, but to increase it for the sharing of the Paschal banquet.

Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill” (Matt 5:6).  In all, fasting is an exercise of humility, hope and love—essential virtues in preparing ourselves to receive the Holy Eucharist.