Fasting, Abstinence, Sacrifice

"Cry out aloud for all you are worth;
raise your voice like a trumpet blast;
tell my people of their offenses,
Jacob's family of their sins.

"Is it true that they seek me
day after day, longing to know my ways,
as a people that does what is right
and has not forsaken the word of its God?

"They want to know the just laws
and not to drift away fromt heir God.
'Why are we fasting,' they complain,
'and you do not even see it?
We are doing penance and you never notice it.'

"Look, on your fast days you push your trade
and you oppress your laborers.
Yes, you fast but end up quarreling,
striking each other with wicked blows.
Fasting as you do
will not make your voice heard on high.

"Is that the kind of fast that pleases me,
just a day for a man to humble himself?
Is fasting merely bowing down one's head,
and making use of sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call that fasting,
a day acceptable to Yahweh?

"See the fast that pleases me:
breaking the fetters of injustice
and unfastening the thongs of the yoke,
setting the oppressed free
and breaking every yoke.
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry,
bring to your house the homeless,
clothe the man you see naked
and do not turn away from your own kin.

"Then will your light break forth as the dawn
and your healing come in a flash.
Your righteousness will be your vanguard,
the Glory of Yahweh your rearguard.
Then you will call and Yahweh will answer,
you will cry and he will say, I am here.
If you remove from your midst the yoke,
the clenched fist and the wicked word."

ISAIAH 58:1-9

"Lord, teach me to naturally give myself to others
and find real joy in it."

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