Lent is often described as a season of fasting, repentance, and preparation. Yet within the Christian tradition, fasting has never stood alone. Scripture holds fasting and feasting together. Lent is about release and reception, humility and joy, restraint and abundance. Growth happens when we make space for it.

Each weekday of Lent invites us to "Fast from" something that is not life-giving, so that we can "Feast on" what nourishes and restores. Paradoxically, the fast feeds the roots that hold us fast and makes new life possible. The feast rises not as a reward, but as fruit from a practice grounded in Scripture and tradition.

Jesus spoke of fasting as a normal part of faithful life (“when you fast,” not if), but he also cautioned against making it performative or navel-gazing. Through the prophet Isaiah, God asks what kind of fast truly gives life: one that loosens injustice, feeds the hungry, shelters the vulnerable, and allows light to break forth like the dawn. Discipline and delight are the roots and shoots of the same plant.

Each day’s Fast/Feast is accompanied by a Scripture suggestion for prayerful contemplation. There is no fasting image on Sundays. Why? We are given each Sunday as a reminder that grace comes first. We know how this story ends: Lent is held within the resurrection.