Millions
of people throughout the world are responding to Pope Francis' call for
a day of prayer and fasting on Saturday for peace in Syria and around
the world. “The basis of the Pope’s call is really rooted in a witness that we have from the Scriptures,” says Father Dominic Holtz, OP, professor of Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In both the Old and New Testaments, he says, “the Scriptures . . . present to us the power of fasting when accompanied by prayer.”
Father Dominic said the fasting helps us to remember that we are dependent upon God. “It’s not that somehow that God is impressed by the fact that we are hungry,” he said, “but rather that our hunger that we have while we are fasting is a reminder of our own limited nature, a way to produce humility precisely by reminding us that we are not in charge of even this most basic part of human life, and that we rely upon God. And that’s why it opens us up in humility to pray for God’s intervention in this life.”
Father Dominic said fasting produces a “reminder that we come from God, that we rely upon God, and that there are certain things that we desire in life, in this case the prayer for peace, that is beyond ordinary human potential to break through these hardened hearts, and to soften them so that they can be open to God’s grace. And our fasting accompanies our prayer in just that way for our own selves, that we can be open to how God is moving us, prompting us by the power of the Spirit of Christ, to respond to the way He wishes, by His grace, to bring peace to that troubled part of the world.”
He explained that the first, immediate effect of prayer and fasting is a transformation in those who are taking part. “Certainly the one thing that should always come from fasting and prayer is the transformation of our own hearts . . . The first practical result is that we are re-directed to God.”
But beyond our own transformation, Father Dominic says we can hope for real, practical results in the world. “I think we are called upon in faith and hope,” he said, “to pray fervently and directly for a transformation of the hearts of the people who are poised to make decisions—whether that’s the President of Syria, whether it’s the armed forces of the rebels or the army in Syria, but as well of the leaders of the west who are contemplating the use of violent force to intervene.”
Father Dominic explained, “While we can never presume upon how God can respond to our prayers, we have a right to hope that what we ask for in His Name, in fervent prayer will be responded to. So I think the immediate practical desire is our transformation, our liberation from any sinful desires as surrounds this issue, and a greater clarity. But I think we can also and ought to have real hope that God will move the hearts of the people involved to be open to His call for peace.”