Media Fast

For someone who is constantly updated with social media activity and spends most of their free time on it, a media fast can be both challenging and rewarding. This is exactly what it was like for me. Although I am not constantly on twitter, instagram, snapchat, and facebook like many teens today, keeping away for all of these for a week was difficult. 

Brene Brown says, "Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends, when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky." The most rewarding part of this media fast for me was that I got to use the time that I would of spent on social media doing other things such as spend time with the people that matter most in my life. I am lucky to have a handful of amazing friends and I rarely thank them for always being there for me. I constantly take my family and friends for granted, and during this weekly fast, I took the time to thank all of those that help me get through the day with a smile on my face.

Going to a Catholic school that supports spiritual growth, we were lucky to have this assignment to help us experience the kind of things that the Church preaches about. Pope John Paul II reveals one of the problems that the Church experiences today when he says, "The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message." Social media is one of the biggest helps and one of the biggest detriments to our society. The most challenging thing for the Church is getting across the full impact of the Gospel message to those consumed by social media. The best way for people to experience its full impact is by taking a step back from social media and experiencing and living out the Gospel message in person. This is exactly what we got to do for an entire week, and I hope to continue cutting back on social media so that I can fully be who god wants me to be without distractions.

Traditional Fast

Traditional Fast

Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent, Catholics promise to fast and abstain from eating meat. As a sacrifice, our class decided to keep this going for an additional six days. my week of fasting consisted of not snacking after dinner time. For me, eating is a "go-to" when I am just slightly hungry or even bored. It takes an extreme amount of effort and self-control to keep this up. What got me through this was thinking of those who cannot even eat one meal each day. The way that so many of us take advantage of our ability to purchase food in surplus is an injustice if we take into consideration the amount of people who die from starvation each day. By fasting, I was able to spend more time reflecting on these things, and I was also able to put the money not spent on food towards my college education which will prepare me to contribute to society the best way that I can. 

Pope Francis offers some encouraging words in preparation for Lent by saying, "We can do this to the extent that we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty. lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt." Here he points out another source of encouragement-the fact that Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days right before he was put to death for the sake of all humans. In order to show Him our love, we can take this time during Lent to sacrifice a little bit of the excess in our lives. It is a healthy way to live out the Gospel message. Never forget what Jesus did for us, and never forget what we can do for Him.