There are many key elements that are in place to help us in practicing our religion, our faith. There are the holy sacraments including our celebration of mass when we come together as a community of believers to pray, sing, listen to the word of God, and receive the Eucharist. But besides that, we are invited to spend time with private prayer and adoration, we are invited to celebrate different feast days, and to fast on certain days during the year. And we are reminded today that all those practices are important, meaningful, and helpful in deepening our faith. But we can’t just select one and neglect the other. For example, we can’t just fast and pray, and be penitential, but at the same time neglect our brothers and sisters in need. Or we can’t only go to church and receive sacraments but avoid joyful family celebrations or events. The Pharisees accused Jesus and His disciples of not praying and fasting, but in His defense Jesus reminded them that there is a time for praying, fasting, singing, being silent, being joyful and being sad. In practicing our faith, we can’t be selective and practice only one thing. Our Church is full of meaningful and holy events.
