Fasting ?

Traditionally, at this time of Lent people got ready for Easter by fasting, not eating so many rich foods and trying to eat a bit less. I suspect that this was also quite convenient as the late Winter/ early Spring period is often known as the 'hungry gap' when all the preserves from Winter are nearly gone and there is little fresh food around to take its place ! MrShoestring is already trying to eat a bit less to lose some weight and MasterShoestring and I don't need to eat less, if anything we have to make sure that MasterShoestring eats enough, so traditional fasting is not for us !

Some years I've used the money saved from the grocery budget by eating less expensive meals to send a donation to Mary's Meals and I hope to do that this year as well. However, I realised that it is not the asme challenge that it used to be so when I saw these words I thought that this might be the sort of fasting that would prove a challenge for the Lent period !

• Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
• Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
• Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
• Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
• Fast from worries and trust in God.
• Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
• Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
• Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
• Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
• Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
• Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.

It is a quote from Pope Francis and they would be good words to live by at anytime of year!