Advent 2020: Fasting & Feasting//
Introduction

Weekly Rhythms for Advent & Christmas

Fasting, especially from food, is a common practice in historical Christianity. Fasting is not dieting or purging. Fasting is saying, “No, not right now,” to something that is good for the sake of pursuing God, and then to re-engage with that good thing at the end of the fast. Fasting is not giving up unhealthy things. Binging and purging urge us to overindulge, over-participate, overeat, and then reign it in and restrict afterwards. Fasting, which is followed by feasting, moderates and regulates intake by delaying satisfaction and gratification, refocusing attention on God and the blessings and goodness of God. Then, after the fast is over, we may participate in the feast set before us. The fast of Advent leads to the feast of Christmas.

As we journey through Advent this season, engage in these weekly rhythms of fasting:

FASTING

Sundays of Advent - Fasting as Darkness
Mondays of Advent - Fasting as Vacancy
Tuesdays of Advent - Fasting as Hunger
Wednesdays of Advent - Fasting as Empathy
Thursdays of Advent - Fasting as Frugality
Fridays of Advent - Fasting as Pause
Saturdays of Advent - Fasting as Self-Denial

As we engage with Christmas and Epiphany, we encounter the reversal of the fasts with these feasts:

FEASTING

December 24 & 31 - Feasting as Light
December 25 & January 1 - Feasting as Sacrament
December 26 & January 2 - Feasting as Celebration
December 27 & January 3 - Feasting as Shared Space
December 28 & January 4 - Feasting as Generosity
December 29 & January 5 - Feasting as Rest
December 30 & January 6 - Feasting as Reconciliation

Engage in these fasts and feasts and their respective activities as you reflect on the scriptures listed each day of Advent and Christmas. Journal about what you learn and ponder, and about what is changing and being shaped in your soul.

The discussions of each fast and feast, included below, focus on the topic of hospitality, and how engaging in these rhythms can draw our focus into a greater practice of hospitality to those near us. Discuss this with someone close to you. Practice hospitality to those around you. You are invited into a deeper practice of not only these spiritual disciplines, but also into a deeper practice of hospitality this Advent season.