Christopher West - An Example of Faulty Cultural Assumptions

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JMJ

In my research of the TOB phenome, I came across this article by Christopher West on Fasting for Lent.

Fasting allows us to feel our hunger.  And feeling our physical hunger can, if we allow it, lead us to feel our spiritual hunger – our hunger for God.  Think of the woman at the well: she came there physically thirsty and left with the promise of “living water.” ... 

If feeling our hunger can awaken our spiritual senses, never feeling hunger can dull them.  Furthermore, when we always satisfy our hunger, we can become enslaved by the pleasures of this world.  Fasting and abstinence “help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart” (CCC 2043).  And this kind of freedom is especially important for people like me who love to eat.

If this quotation caused a sense of uneasiness, that's a good thing because Mr. West has stepped on a number of cultural land mines.

As with many post-conciliar theories, there is a tendency to skip the real reason for doing something and to jump right to the consequence.  

The key assumption in Catholic Culture, is that fasting brings the body (our fallen nature) under subjection of the spirit by practicing the virtue of temperance.  

In a nutshell that is why we fast.

A consequence of this is that the spirit will then be less encumbered to contemplate the Mysteries of God as proper order has been re-established.  This is also why continence in marriage was recommended prior to receiving Holy Communion for Laity.  This is something that is probably contraindicated for the adherents to TOB.

The thought that being hungry will lead us to a sensation of spiritual hunger for God is a naive expression focused on feelings.  It is quite possible that a person will fast and have no sensation of hunger for God, unless they mistake a little light headiness for such an effect.

Ultimately, a 'sensation' is not a reliable metric for determining the state of ones soul.

Here are two quotes on fasting from a more reliable source.

In the summa we find that fasting described thus:

An act is virtuous through being directed by reason to some virtuous [honestum] [Cf. 145, 1] good. Now this is consistent with fasting, because fasting is practiced for a threefold purpose. First, in order to bridle the lusts of the flesh, wherefore the Apostle says (2 Corinthians 6:5-6): "In fasting, in chastity," since fasting is the guardian of chastity. For, according to Jerome [Contra Jov. ii.] "Venus is cold when Ceres and Bacchus are not there," that is to say, lust is cooled by abstinence in meat and drink. Secondly, we have recourse to fasting in order that the mind may arise more freely to the contemplation of heavenly things: hence it is related (Daniel 10) of Daniel that he received a revelation from God after fasting for three weeks. Thirdly, in order to satisfy for sins: wherefore it is written (Joel 2:12): "Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning." The same is declared by Augustine in a sermon (De orat. et Jejun. [Serm. lxxii (ccxxx, de Tempore)]): "Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one's flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity." (Summa 2,2,Q147)

Futher another reference from St. Thomas lays out the following for a lenten meditation:

We fast for three reasons. 


To check the desires of the flesh. So St. Paul says in fastings, in chastity (z Cor. vi. 5), meaning that fasting is a safeguard for chastity. As St. Jerome says, " Without Ceres, and Bacchus, Venus would freeze," as much as to say that lust loses its heat through spareness of food and drink. 
That the mind may more freely raise itself to contemplation of the heights. We read in the book of Daniel that it was after a fast of three weeks that he received the revelation from God (Dan. x. 2-4). 
To make satisfaction for sin. This is the reason given by the prophet Joel, Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning (Joel ii. 12). And here is what St. Augustine writes on the matter. " Fasting purifies the soul. It lifts up the mind, and it brings the body into subjection to the spirit. It makes the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of desire, puts out the flames of lust and the true light of chastity."  (Meditations for Lent - From St. Thomas Aquinas


So, if Mr. West's explanation did not cause some uneasiness or outright revulsion, I recommend serious reading of Catholic Spirituality. Something that you will find very hard to come by in post-conciliar texts.



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