Divine Appeal Reflection - 259
Today, consider in Divine Appeal 259: "It is not enough to fast – to fast should include abstinence from anger, grumbling, the fast of tongue from unkind words from your lips."
Our Adorable Jesus, in this gentle Divine Appeal, invites us to rediscover fasting not merely as bodily denial but as a deep interior purification. To abstain from food without purifying the heart risks turning sacrifice into an empty gesture. True fasting is a return to the school of His Heart, where silence, patience, and meekness are learned. Despite being sinless, Christ Himself endured silent suffering and spoke words of kindness while in pain (cf. Isa 53:7). According to the Catechism, for conversion to be genuine, it must go deep within the heart (cf. CCC 1430). By giving God not only an outward sacrifice but also the surrender of pride, wrath, and wounded self-love, we start to mend internal wounds caused by our anger and complaining. This hidden fast is precious, because it joins us to Jesus, who suffered without complaint, making our hearts resemble His.
Though small, the tongue holds a mysterious and far-reaching power — to heal or to harm, to comfort or to divide, as Scripture teaches (cf. Jas 3:5). The fast of the tongue contains a hidden wealth that is only known and treasured by God, and that is invisible to the outside world. It is, however imperfect, a silent echo of the Lamb’s majestic stillness before His accusers when one chooses to hold back words under unfair criticism, answers sharpness with gentle compassion, or responds to injustice with gratitude. Such silence is no passive retreat, but a conscious act of love: a humble surrender of pride and a refusal to let hidden resentment script our speech. It becomes, quietly yet powerfully, a living witness that mercy holds greater strength than anger. In these hidden choices, grace shapes the soul into a living icon of Christ’s own patience and mercy, revealing that true strength lies not in striking back, but in allowing divine love to speak more powerfully through silence.As the Catechism tells us, words are truly measured in hearts that have been moulded by prayer and God's silent gaze (cf. CCC 2710) and prayer. Thus, fasting from harsh or impatient words is not a sterile or fearful restraint, but a silence filled with love — a silence that itself becomes prayer. Each unspoken retort, each restrained sigh offered to our Adorable Jesus, becomes a hidden sacrifice. Though unnoticed by others, such offerings delight His Heart far more than any outward penance, for they are born of a love willing to echo His own: silent, merciful, and patient enough to transform hurt into intercession.
This deeper fast is needed more than ever in a world swollen with noise, outrage, and restless division. Our Adorable Jesus gently teaches that it is not what enters the mouth that truly defiles, but what flows out from hearts into words and deeds (cf. Mt 15:18–19). True fasting, then, is not merely turning from food, but allowing grace to transform the hidden source of speech itself — so that the heart becomes a fountain of mercy rather than of judgment. Choosing to hold back sharp words, to swallow hidden bitterness, or to answer provocation with quiet charity is to enter into the silent prayer of Christ Himself, who in His deepest agony chose forgiveness over condemnation. Such restraint is no mere human self-control, but a quiet martyrdom of pride and wounded ego — a daily dying that makes space for divine life to rise within us. It turns into a prophetic fast whose strength lies not in its words but in its silent witness: that love is stronger than revenge, that grace is stronger than fury, and that a single heart given over to mercy can help mend the scars of a divided and noisy world.
We learn through such a fast that fasting is a secret gift—an offering of the will and the heart that creates room for grace to operate inside us—rather than just an act of denial. It becomes a quiet surrender, where each moment of anger we hold back, each complaint we silence, and each sharp word we choose not to speak becomes like a small stone laid in the foundation of a heart being rebuilt in Christ’s likeness. The soul grows closer to Jesus' Sacred Heart—a Heart that was pierced but only responded with love and mercy—through these covert triumphs, which may only be known to Heaven. Because it produces results that are invisible to the naked eye, our Adorable Jesus longs for this type of fast. It transforms frigid, arrogant, and wounded hearts into ones that start to love with His patience and tenderness. May He grant us the grace to live this fast not just in special seasons, but daily and faithfully, until our silence, purified by love, becomes a hidden hymn rising continually toward His Heart.
Prayer
O our Adorable Jesus, draw us to fast from anger, pride, and every unkind word. Teach us silence alive with charity, that our hearts may mirror Yours. Accept our hidden sacrifices as fragrant offerings of reparation. Transform us daily, that we may live only to console Your Sacred Heart. Amen.
Sr. Anna Ali of the Most Holy Eucharist, intercede for us.
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