Comments on: True Fasting and Gluttony Disguised as Fasting

By: paul

paul — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 13:44:52 +0000

CORRECT 100%

peace be with you all, at Saint Elizabeth

with love paul

By: Ellen Candia

Ellen Candia — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 15:53:37 +0000

My thanks to both of you, ladies for your thoughts. May God lead you through a blessed fast

By: Vincent Contessa

Vincent Contessa — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 15:40:11 +0000

Thank you for this thoughtful article in the midst of the Nativity fast. It gives me much to think about!

By: Anastasia Parkhomchik

Anastasia Parkhomchik — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:07:39 +0000

In reply to Emily. Dear Emily! Thank you for sharing your story and thoughts. I am very glad that you understood my message correctly. May you have a blessed fast!

By: Anastasia Parkhomchik

Anastasia Parkhomchik — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 13:57:50 +0000

In reply to Ellen Candia. Dear Ellen! Let me explain. It wasn't my intention to condemn vegetarianism, veganism, or raw food in my article. Everyone is free to choose for himself the food that corresponds to his health and inner values. I just gave an example that thanks to the spread of such food systems and the development of vegan cuisine with various tasty dishes, a Christian who fast can easily be tempted by them during fast, forgetting about the real purpose of bodily abstinence.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 09:05:58 +0000

Dear Ellen
I would like to comment on what you wrote: “One of the main reasons for the vegan or vegetarian choice is the desire to be a better steward of our earth’s resources whether it be compassion for animal life or concern for world hunger which is significantly exacerbated by the allocation of a vast percentage of the world crops going to animal feed rather than directly on people’s tables., Meat is terribly expensive and a vegan or vegetarian diet much less so. ”
I live in a poor country, or at least in a country where the divide between rich and poor is very great. When I go to the grocery store, I can choose between locally produced vegetables where the quality is not so good and imported vegetables where the choice is greater, the quality and price high. I can also choose organically produced vegetables, which is even more expensive. So do I choose the first two which was grown with pesticides and artificial fertilizers which is no doubt also very harmful to the environment, or the latter? Most people in my country, choose the cheapest. They also buy very cheap animal intestines from slaughter houses which they clean themselves before cooking. This is a very humble but affordable source of protein.
My point is that the majority of food producing activities are harmful to the environment and actually not sustainable. What the writer does get right is to point us in the direction of the need to thoroughly question our eating habits (and our hearts) in a time of fasting. Human being have an insatiable hunger for new, better, more tasty, more exotic foods and a vegetarian or vegan diet, can either be expensive or affordable. We turn a blind eye to the suffering of animals, the environment and wildlife in the production of our food. We need to scale down our expectations and the only way I know how to do that, is to fast: simply and carefully and prayerfully.
Sorry for the long comment, it is not at all meant as criticism, but your comment did make me think! May you have a blessed fast!

By: Ellen Candia

Ellen Candia — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 22:40:32 +0000

I think the comments and underlying attitude toward alternative diets , Veganism in particular, are uninformed at best and offensive at worst. While I agree that certain well meaning lifestyle choices can devolve to consumption of expense items such as “gourmet” or speciality foods ( the Vegan sausages you mentioned is a case in point) that is not representative of the majority of people who choose that diet. One of the main reasons for the vegan or vegetarian choice is the desire to be a better steward of our earth’s resources whether it be compassion for animal life or concern for world hunger which is significantly exacerbated by the allocation of a vast percentage of the world crops going to animal feed rather than directly on people’s tables., Meat is terribly expensive and a vegan or vegetarian diet much less so. Good nutrition for the precious bodies God has given us needn’t be beyond the means of so many as it often is . I found your article had some good points but your ideas about alternate diets such as the Vegan diet were unnecessarily judgmental , unfair and rude.