Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 79.  Tue  9-22-92 13:09  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Scott Windsor
 Subject: Eucharistic Fast

SW| FM> I should also say here that one is obliged to fast before Communion,
  | FM> not eating or drinking anything but plain water for at least one hour
  | FM> before receiving.
 
SW|I enjoyed your post to Drucilla (?) on the Lord's Supper.  This "one
  |hour fast" is a bit confusing to me though.  I understand the time
  |frame and all, but is one hour really a fast?  It takes me 20 minutes
  |to drive to Mass, then Communion is not received until nearly 30
  |minutes into Mass, thus I only need to "fast" for 10 minutes before I
  |leave?  How is this "fasting?"  I understand fasting as a sacrifice
  |for a purpose, but one hour hardly seems like any kind of real
  |sacrifice.  The "normal" time between meals is up to 4-5 hours, it
  |would seem like a "fast" ought to at least exceed this time.
 
SW|Scott
 
 
 
Dear Scott,
 
The Eucharistic fast as presently required is perhaps not so much an
act of penance as of awareness of the approaching moment of
Communion.  It symbolizes our need to withdraw ourselves from
ordinary concerns like eating and drinking in order to recollect our
minds and hearts in the Lord.
 
If one hour seems too little to you, the Holy Spirit may be coaxing
you to give a longer time for this preparation.  This would be
praiseworthy as long as one avoids scruples or any temptation to look
down on others who are following the one-hour rule.
 
                                Sincerely in Christ,
 
 
                                        Father Mateo