Date: March 4, 2025
Shrove Tuesday is a significant day. It is the day we use to prepare for Lent. It is a day when we indulge a little as we recognize that we are entering a season when we will deliberately deny ourselves those things that we could easily have.
Tomorrow is one of two days recommended for a fast in the Episcopal Church. What is involved in a fast varies considerably; it can be as little as denying oneself meat all the way through to denying oneself food and drink for twenty four hours. My own practice is a 12 hour denial of food. Typically I eat breakfast before 6.30am and then I will break the fast at 6.30pm. One can consume as many beverages as you like.
It was my time at Hartford Seminary (now the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace) that taught me the gift of this practice. At least one third of the student body was Muslim. And their observance of Ramadan was impressive (no food and drink from sunrise to sunset). But more importantly, I was reminded that there are so many lessons to learn from fasting – one does so as a modest act of solidarity with all those who are hungry in the world, one is reminded afresh of how much a gift a reliable food source is, and most important it reorientates one’s focus on God. So in response to the Muslim witness, I started observing the fast as required in the Episcopal Church. As you plan tomorrow, I invite you to do the same.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary.