Dear Fasting Friend,

We often receive questions about fasting, which has made us realize just how important these Fast Friday messages are.

Many are concerned about whether they are fasting properly or not. What should I eat or not eat? How often, how much, how little?

Some have made the mistake of believing that if they are having difficulty fasting from food and or drink, they can't fast at all, where others can be overly scrupulous and dare not break their fast no matter the situation. And, and if they do, they are filled with grief.

Most likely, all of us have struggled with each one of these scenarios, which is why we love sharing insights and ideas from our fasting team members, such as Thomas in last week's email (A Bland Idea) and Karen in our video below. If you haven't had a chance to listen to this video conversation yet, we hope you will do so soon because it is the last week we will have it posted here.

So, in drafting this note about friends sharing their fasting questions and ideas, I got a kick out of another conversation the Holy Spirit led me to that reiterated what Karen and I discussed.  It is a conversation between St. Faustina and the Lord regarding eating a gift of oranges and fasting during Lent. It was as if St. Faustina was saying, "Hey there, Joan, I had questions regarding fasting too! Here is what the Lord told me. Will you please share this with everyone too?" 

"Most certainly, St. Faustina!" So, now you don't have to take our words for it, meaning mine and Karen's. You can take from the two of them. Who better to listen to anyway?