Sara J. (kefuwa)’s Reviews > Fast With the Heart > Status Update

What do you do if you find that something extends beyond the psychosomatic level? Very often all three levels are together: physical & psychological symptoms with the spiritual. This is why we pray for inner healing in addition to deliverance.

- but his entire life is a thanksgiving which is occassionally explicit & solemn so as to draw others to believe & to thank God with Him.: (cf Jn 11,42). This is the reason why a grateful person becomes a person of prayer. It is in this sense that the call to continual gratitude & prayer without ceasing can be understood. For St. Paul, a Christian life is a thanksgiving (cf Rom 1,8; 1 Thes 3,9 etc)

When we look at Jesus' attitude of gratitude, we see that his entire life is a thanksgiving to the Father. "At the Last Supper & the Cross, Jesus reveals the incentive of His entire life & of his death: thanksgiving from His Heart. The Passion & Death of Jesus are necessary in order to fully glorify the Father (cf. Jn 17,1), -

- releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke. Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed & the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own." (Is 58,6,7)

- distinguish between what he needs & what he can give to others. This is why good works are expected from those who fast. Good works are a fruit of fasting & prayer & for this reason fasting & prayer cannot be replaced by them as is often inferred. When the prophet speaks about fasting that is not pleasing to God, he points out selfish behaviour towards others. Isaiah says: "This, rather, is the fasting I wish, -

In order to develop a grateful relationship with God & others, we must decide to fast. Through fasting, a process of purification begins & continues. A pure heart & soul are grateful & are able to see both man & God better. They acknowledge others more easily. When a person gains inner freedom, he becomes able to do good works & even to share his material goods with others. He is able to see clearly what he has & -

When a person becomes blind to what others do for him and only sees what has not been done, he finds himself in a situation of forgetfulness & blindness & opens himself to sin. If we did not forget what our parents have done for us, there would never be a conflict between children & parents. If a husband did not forget what his wife has done for him, & vice versa, there would never be divorces.

Every sin that takes place is actually a fruit of ingratitude. It is a fruit of selfishness and great egoism. When a person does not see what God is doing for him and what others mean to him, he turns to himself and to the world. An ungrateful person is forgetful. This means that he forgets everything good only because of a single situation that does not appeal to him.

However, when there is a disposition of ingratitude in the heart, there can be no peace or joy. Neither God nor man can ever sufficiently serve a selfish and egotistical person. He always seeks more from others, and when he does not receive it, he is disappointed. In that disappointment, violence, agitation and every other evil are born.

A grateful person is thus a person of peace who has joy and hope in his heart. He will never be disappointed because he never expects anything from others but does everything for them.