What is the trajectory of the Church’s thought throughout the Lenten fast?

The Sunday Gospels of Lent reveal the Church’s understanding of the concept of fasting and sketch out the contemplations to which the Church invites us as we journey through the fast:

1. Sunday of Preparation : Nothing should occupy our minds or hearts while we prepare for fasting other than the encounter with God our heavenly Father. By fasting, we experience new depths of our relationship with God. On the Sunday before Lent, we ought to expel from ourselves every bondage to the desires for food and drink. The Church presents us with a positive, joyful perspective, which is the hidden encounter with our Heavenly Father. The Church reads to us the gospel passage that concerns the pillars of Christian worship, as Christ presented them in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:1–18), namely, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Here, we see that these ought to be offered as sacrifices of love, secretly offered to the heavenly Father behind closed doors, so that we can taste this mutual love. Our heavenly Father initiates love, and we respond to this love with love.

At the end of the Lenten fast, on Palm Sunday, the Church reads the gospel chapters about Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. Having begun the fast by declaring our deep and secret attachment to God our Father, we conclude the fast by seeing Christ entering into our hearts to create from their depths His beloved Jerusalem and its divine kingdom. In fact, fasting is not so much about being deprived of food as it is about being satisfied with God and sharing in the banquet of angels.

2. Sunday of Treasures : With the beginning of Lent, the Church reads to us a passage concerning heavenly treasure (Matt. 6:19–33). To fast is to come into possession of a heavenly treasure, that is, Christ Himself our divine treasure (2 Cor. 4:7).

3. Sunday of Temptation : Our entering into new depths in our relationship with Christ provokes the devil, who wages spiritual wars and temptations against us. But we take shelter in Christ fasting in the wilderness, He to whom the angels came and ministered

after His temptation (Matt. 4:11), and we share in the benefit of their ministry. Fasting is an invitation to receive this blessing.

4. Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15): Through fasting, we not only prepare ourselves to be served by angels, but also to offer our repentance to God. We find our heavenly Father running towards us, falling on our necks, greeting us, and embracing us close to His divine bosom.

5. Sunday of the Heavenly Wedding (the Samaritan Woman , John 4): Through our repentance, we return to the bosom of the Father and are granted the heavenly wedding. The Samaritan Woman — who was never satisfied with her five husbands, nor with the man with whom she now lived — found her true spiritual satiety in Christ. So, she left her waterpot and set out to call everyone in her city to share the enjoyment of this satiety with her.

6. Sunday of the Paralyzed Man at Bethesda (John 5): Now that we are betrothed to Christ — as St. Paul says, “For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2) — we unite with the Physician of souls and bodies. He heals us as He healed the paralyzed man at Bethesda (John 5).

7. Sunday of the Man Born Blind (John 9): He who benefits from the heavenly Physician’s treatment is blessed with open eyes that see and touches divine mysteries. This is the gift of the heavenly Bridegroom who gifts His mysteries to His bride.

8. Finally, Palm Sunday : Having completed our journey through Lent, the Church now begins the Holy Week (Paschal Week) with the gospels about Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This is when Christ enters our hearts, we who are His beloved Jerusalem, implanting His cross in it, and granting it the power of His Resurrection, so that we can partake of the eternal heavenly feast.