Question:
"Now that the Christmas season has
begun — in our secular society called the “holiday season” — there are parties
held at workplaces. But we are fasting, and the celebration of the Lord’s
Nativity does not come until December 25/January 7. How would you counsel
Orthodox Christians on this subject?"
Answer: In
the past 50 years, American culture has gone from the older practice of putting
up Christmas decorations on Christmas eve, and then celebrating Christmas on
the actual day (albeit New Calendar), and continuing that celebration through
either New Year's day, or Epiphany (what we usually call Theophany) on January
6th. This is evident from the older classic Christmas movies, such as
"It's a Wonderful Life," "The Bishop's Wife," and even the
Charlie Brown Christmas Special (the next time you watch these movies, pay
attention to when the Christmas Trees are being decorated). Of course during
the period leading up to Christmas there has always been a great deal of
anticipation and preparation. However, most Americans now begin celebrating
Christmas in earnest after Thanksgiving, and the weeks and days prior to
Christmas consist of one Christmas party after another. Then on Christmas day,
people are taking down their decorations, you see Christmas Trees on the curb
waiting to be carted off to the dump, you cease hearing Christmas music on the
radio usually by noon at the latest, and the time leading up to Christmas is
observed in a manner that is completely opposed to the traditional order of
things. The forty days prior to Christmas period is supposed to be a time of
prayer and fasting. It is not as strict of a fast as Great Lent, but it is
certainly not supposed to be the marathon of gluttony that it has become in the
popular culture. For those of us on the Old Calendar, this made even more
difficult by the fact that our fast continues until it is broken on January
7th, according to the civil calendar (which is December 25th on the Old Calendar).
So how should
Orthodox Christians deal with this situation? We have family, friends, and
co-workers that regularly invite us to participate in these parties, but how
are we to keep the fast and prepare properly for the celebration of the Nativity
of Christ? Obviously, we should make the effort to keep the fast, but how one
goes about it is a question of wisdom, and so let me lay out how I approach it,
keeping in mind that there are other ways that one could approach some of these
issues.
We have a few
priorities as Christians that sometimes have to be weighed against one another:
1. Fasting is an
important spiritual discipline. The Church calls on us to fast corporately at
certain times of the year, and this is one of those times (Matthew 9:15; Canon
69 of the Holy Apostles)
2. We should not
make a show of our fasting, nor should we going around with a sour look on our
faces, complaining about how hard it is to keep the fast (Matthew 6:16-18).
3. Fasting is not
an end in and of itself, but a means to an end. There are some (rare)
circumstances in which it is better to break the fast than to be lacking in
love for others. There are also some circumstances in which breaking the fast
might be necessary for some other reason (e.g., ill-health, or extreme
circumstances such as those serving in the military, and unable to fast due to
the demands of their duty, etc).
If it happens to be
a fast day, and some non-Orthodox loved one surprises you with a special meal
that they went to great pains to prepare and they did not know it was a day
that you should not eat most of what they have fixed, this would probably be
one of those rare instances in which it would be better to break the fast than
to hurt them by insisting on keeping the fast. However, one should not make a
point of visiting as many non-Orthodox family and friends as you can during the
fasts, and then using charity as an excuse to regularly break the fast.
Furthermore, while
it is true that we should not make a show of our fasting, if you are in regular
contact with family or friends who are not Orthodox, I think it is a practical
necessity to let them know that there are many times during the year when you
cannot eat certain kinds of foods. You don't need to make a big deal about it.
You certainly shouldn't demand other people accommodate you, and prepare
special meals for you, but if you are going to keep the fasts, you will have to
gently let them know that this is how things are with you. Especially in recent
times, the idea that people have special diets is not uncommon.
If you are asked
why you are not eating certain kinds of foods by people you really do not know,
it is probably better to simply say that you are on a special diet (which is
certainly true during the fasts), or to just say, "I can't eat that."
Most people who don't know you, will probably not probe further. However, if
they do, just answer the questions they ask without making a bigger deal about
it than necessary. You should just not go out of your way to inform people you are
fasting, when there is no need for them to know.
If you work around
non-Orthodox people, on a regular basis, I think it is likewise practically
impossible to keep the fasts without eventually letting them know about it.
Especially during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is often a
steady flow of non-lenten food that is brought to the office. The intentions of
those who bring these foods are friendly, but you can gently refuse these
things with a smile and good humor, without offending anyone.
If there is an
office party during a fast, you don't want to draw any more attention to
yourself than is necessary, and you should not ask anyone else to plan such
things to accommodate you, but you can be sociable and participate in these
meals by looking for what is available that is lenten (usually, there are at
least some vegetables, and maybe some chips and salsa (fairly standard fare in
Texas, at least). You can also make a point of bringing something yourself that
is lenten.
And when the fast
finally does come to an end, you can then invite non-Orthodox friends and
family to come and join you in celebrating the feast. For example, most
parishes have some sort of a Christmas party (a "Yolka") on the
Sunday after Christmas. This is a great opportunity to invite such people to
visit your Church and join in the fun. Maybe you could also bring some donuts
to work on the first day after Christmas that you are back on the job, and
offer them to your coworkers, for a change. It is important to fast, but it is
also important that we joyfully celebrate the feasts, and if we want others to
be attracted to our faith, we should make sure that we do not leave them with
the impression that we just fast a lot, but that we also know how to enter into
the joy of our feasts at the end of those fasts.
By Fr. John Whiteford
Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2015/12/stump-priest-nativity-fast-and.html
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