I am stuck on why we have made fasting so narrow. We talk about giving up food for a few days, maybe coffee during Lent, and call it spiritual discipline. But what if we are missing the bigger picture? What if fasting was never just about what we put in our mouths but about what we allow to consume our hearts and minds?

Scripture paints a much broader canvas. When Ezra needed God’s guidance for a dangerous journey, he called for a fast. When Daniel wanted to strengthen his prayers, he fasted. When Esther faced annihilation, fasting became her battle strategy. These were not people counting calories or cleansing their digestive systems. They were creating space for something greater.

In our hyperconnected religious life, the things that truly consume us are not always on our dinner plates. Even within convent walls and monastery gates, we constantly feed on WhatsApp messages from family, news of church scandals, formation updates that arrive at all hours, and the relentless noise that seeps into our supposed silence. We check our phones during recreation, consume content during times meant for lectio divina, and wonder why we feel spiritually hungry despite our structured prayer life.

Maybe it is time to fast from the notifications that interrupt our Divine Office. Maybe we need to give up the morning news ritual that fills us with anxiety before Lauds. Perhaps the real spiritual discipline is putting down our phones during Adoration, not because technology is evil, but because our souls need quiet space to hear that still, small voice—the very voice we vowed to prioritise.

The Psalms talk about fasting to humble ourselves before God. For those of us in religious life, this hits deeper than skipping lunch. It means examining the pride in our community meetings, the complaints about........

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