Beyond Hunger: Fasting, Formation, and the Way Back to Life
Fr. Anthony Perkins. [Talk given at the 2026 Winter Antiochian DOMSE Retreat]
Introduction
When we hear the word fasting, most of us immediately think about food—what we can eat, what we cannot eat, and whether we are doing it right. But fasting is much older, deeper, and more hopeful than a dietary rule. Fasting exists because God loves us too much to leave us trapped in our own appetites.
From the very beginning, human beings were created with real power and real responsibility. Scripture tells us that God gave humanity dominion over the earth—not as tyrants, but as His stewards, His gardeners, and His priests. We were meant to shape the world, bless it, and help it from good towards the better. And along with this calling, this responsibility, we were given the power to affect creation. Power has never the problem. The problem is that, because of the Fall, we are prone to exercise that power without holiness. And so, to paraphrase St. Paul; even when we try to do good, things go sideways (Romans 7:19-25).
When power is exercised without holiness, even our best intentions go sideways. We hurt ourselves, we hurt one another, and we damage the world entrusted to us.
Fasting exists because God refuses to abandon us to that condition. Fasting becomes part of the remedy for our healing, so that we can, in Christ, increasingly act single-mindedly in His service.
- Segue: Fasting as a Condition for Harmony
This morning, Fr. Gregory taught us about how participation in the music and poetry of the services heals and perfects us. To reinforce our understanding that all reality is connected and that nothing can be truly understood in separation from the all-encompassing context of God’s love, I want to quickly explain how the discipline of fasting relates to the creation of music, both by individual musicians and by musicians working in ensembles.
- As individuals, musicians have to gain self-understanding and self-control.
- In an ensemble musicians have to learn humility, submission, and the ability to listen so well that they know and serve the needs of harmony.
Without self-knowledge, a musician won’t know if they are singing off key.
Without self-control, they won’t be willing to follow the routines that will improve their mastery; moreover, in performances, musicians will be moved by their own passions to vary their tempo and volume in ways that serve their own desires rather than the needs of the ensemble.
They may have learned to speak in the tongues of men and angels – and surely music, the harmony of the spheres – is one of the greatest languages of creation – [they will have learned to speak in the tongues of men and angel] but the music they create will be noisy and discordant because they have not gained the ability to love and to serve.
Choir directors know this from the inside, but anyone who has gone to an elementary school band concert knows the dynamic.
Of course, like Saint Paul, I speak not of the choir but of the Church.
We need to develop an understanding of ourselves and we need to develop seof control in order for us to learn to love.
That’s where fasting comes in.
Fasting is not just about what we do or don’t eat or when we eat; food is just one application of a skill and need that is generalizable – healing and training us so that we can participate and grow in something greater than ourselves through love.
- Beyond Hunger: The Sacred History of Fasting
[Again, going back to the beginning,] The Bible begins not with scarcity, but abundance. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were surrounded by provision. Genesis tells us that God made “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” There was no hunger, no anxiety, no competition.
There was only one act of restraint. God told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
That command was not arbitrary. It was an invitation. It was meant to train trust. It was meant to train restraint. It was meant to train discernment. In other words, it was a form of fasting.
The Fall did not happen because Adam and Eve were hungry. It happened because they allowed their desires to rule them. Genesis tells us that the fruit was “good for food, a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise.” Desire outran obedience. Appetite replaced trust. Harmony was broken.
Because they would not fast from that fruit, humanity lost access to the Tree of Life.
And that pattern does not stop there.
Immediately after the Fall, we see it again with Cain. God warns him before he sins. He says, “Sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain is not powerless. But he allows his passions to control him. He does not pause. He does not restrain himself. And so power without holiness becomes violence. And violence is the epitome of broken harmony.
And it gets worse; Cain’s failure does not remain personal. His descendants boast of violence. What begins as unrestrained appetite becomes a culture of spiritual gluttony. Disorder spreads. The entire line of Cain loses itself to demonolatry.
Then there is Esau. Esau comes in hungry from the field. Hunger is real. But instead of waiting, instead of trusting, he trades his birthright for a bowl of soup. Scripture concludes bluntly, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” The future is sacrificed to the present moment. We sacrifice our birthright when we lack self-control. And our birthright – our inheritance – is nothing less than the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is a recurring biblical warning: a lack of self-control leads to ruin.
God’s response to this problem is not to remove desire. He does not make us less human. Instead, He gives us a way to harness and direct it. Fasting is not punishment. It is medicine. A habit that will allow us to restore the likeness that has been distorted.
- Fasting Beyond Food: Purifying the Mind, Mouth, and Motions
One of the most important things to understand about fasting—and about the Christian life—is that we are not changed simply because we have agreed that Orthodox ideas are the best. Scripture tells us, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” Ideas alone do not transform us. We are formed by repetition, habit, rhythm, and environment.
This is why the Church does not simply tell us to be holy. She gives us practices—rituals—that shape us slowly and faithfully over time.
Tito Colliander describes this realism beautifully. He writes:
We must not imagine that we can become new men overnight. The soul is not changed by sudden resolutions, but by patient practice. Asceticism works slowly, like nature itself. It demands perseverance, not heroics, and sobriety rather than enthusiasm.
Fasting is one of the Church’s most basic formative practices.
Scripture tells us that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” Adam and Eve did not fail because they lacked information. They failed because they did not restrain their desire.
Fasting works below the level of argument. It slows impulse. It interrupts bad habits. It retrains instinct. Many of us discover, when fasting begins, how often we reach automatically for food, our phones, or the distraction of shiny things. Fasting gently reminds us that desire does not have to be obeyed immediately.
Fasting also trains the mind. Christ tells us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Attention is a form of appetite. That is why fasting is traditionally paired with prayer, Scripture, and silence. If we fast from food but continue to feed outrage, anxiety, or constant stimulation, fasting will feel frustrating. Desire simply relocates. It can’t just be about food.
Fasting trains the mouth as well. Scripture warns us that “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.” Hunger often reveals impatience in speech. This is not failure—it is revelation. Fasting shows us what needs healing.
And fasting trains the body. Scripture urges us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” Formation is embodied. Waiting, standing, refraining, tolerating mild discomfort—these things teach patience far better than any homily or youtube video.
The psalmist prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Fasting answers that prayer. It reveals impatience, anxiety, and entitlement—not to shame us, but to make repentance honest and possible. Fasting provides just enough stress for our weaknesses to be revealed without causing damage.
When desire is retrained through patient practice, fasting stops being a burden and becomes a source of freedom.
III. Eating with Reverence, Fasting with Joy: The Art of Holy Balance
Fasting is not the goal of the Christian life. Communion is. The problem in the Garden was not eating – we were told to eat – [no, the problem was not with eating] but [the problem wasa] eating without reverence, restraint, and trust.
Christ restores what was lost through obedience, fasting, and the Cross. The Cross opens the way back to paradise and becomes the new Tree of Life. As we sing in the kontakion to the Veneration of the Cross;
Now the flaming sword no longer guards the gates of Eden;
It has mysteriously been quenched by the wood of the Cross!
In the sacramental life of the Church, we are invited to eat again—but rightly. Not grasping. Not “taking” the food. But receiving it.
Scripture reminds us, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Food becomes gift again, not entitlement.
Colliander explains it this way:
Asceticism is not an end in itself. It is only a means. Its purpose is to free us from slavery to ourselves. When a man has learned to restrain himself, he can receive things with gratitude instead of greed, with joy instead of anxiety.
The Fathers give us a beautiful example of this balance. One of the elders was sick, and his disciple prepared a special dish for him. By mistake, the disciple poured rancid lamp oil into the food instead of honey. The elder tasted it, knew what had happened, and said nothing. He ate quietly so as not to grieve his disciple. Only later did he gently refuse more. When the disciple discovered the mistake and was horrified, the elder said, “If it had been God’s will for me to eat honey, then you would have put honey in your dish.”
This is not severity. This is freedom. The elder was not ruled by appetite or comfort. He was free to choose love. The result was harmony. The result was beauty.
Christ warns us not to fast with gloom or pride. Joy is a diagnostic sign. Colliander says plainly:
Where there is no joy, there is no true asceticism. If fasting makes a man gloomy or harsh, it has missed its purpose.
St. Paul writes,
“All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.”
And Colliander adds:
The aim of asceticism is not self-torture, but liberation. A man who cannot restrain himself is not free. He is driven.
This is holy balance.
Conclusion
Fasting teaches us to want the right things, in the right way, at the right time. Not to escape the world, but to heal it.
Fasting is how God teaches us to receive and share life without degrading or destroying it.
Musicians who have disciplined themselves and submitted their wills to the service of beauty become instruments of joy; they take the sound that was made good and transform it into its better form.
This is an image of the Church and, as the royal priesthood.
We were made to be part of the kind of beauty – in music, in communion, in love that fasting allows for.
May God bless us in this work.
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DISCUSSION OUTLINE — Adult Laity
Beyond Hunger: Fasting, Freedom, and the Healing of Desire
Purpose
To help adults understand fasting not as a rule about food, but as a practice that heals desire, restores freedom, and trains us to love well.
Opening Question
- When you hear “fasting,” what do you usually think of first?
- Food rules?
- Guilt or pressure?
- Spiritual discipline?
- Confusion?
Key Insight
Fasting exists because God loves us too much to leave us enslaved to our appetites. The problem in Scripture is never hunger itself, but desire without restraint.
Scripture & Story
- Adam and Eve were not hungry—but they grasped.
- Cain was warned—but did not pause.
- Esau traded his inheritance for immediacy.
Pattern: desire outruns trust → harmony breaks.
Discussion Questions
- Where do you most often feel pressure to satisfy desire immediately?
- How does lack of self-control affect relationships, not just personal habits?
- Have you noticed desires “moving” during fasting (irritability, distraction, impatience)?
Beyond Food
Fasting:
- works below the level of argument
- interrupts habit
- reveals what actually rules us
It is not punishment—it is medicine.
Joy and Balance
Fasting is not the goal; communion is.
True fasting produces:
- gratitude instead of greed
- patience instead of resentment
- joy instead of pride
If fasting makes us harsh or gloomy, it has missed its purpose.
Closing Reflection
- Where might fasting be inviting you—not to deprivation, but to freedom?
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DISCUSSION OUTLINE — Clergy
Leading People into Fasting Without Crushing Them
Purpose
To help clergy teach, model, and guide fasting as formation for freedom and love—rather than compliance, fear, or performative rigor.
Opening Question
- What obstacles do you see most often when people struggle with fasting?
- Legalism?
- Shame?
- Confusion?
- Resistance?
- Pride?
Core Pastoral Principle
Fasting is not primarily about obedience to rules, but about healing perception and desire.
Clergy are not enforcers of discipline—we are hosts of formation.
Theological Frame
- The Fall was not about hunger but unrestrained desire
- Power without holiness damages people
- Fasting retrains desire so power can serve love
Pastoral Risks
- Treating fasting as a moral test
- Reducing it to food alone
- Ignoring differences in capacity
- Confusing severity with seriousness
Discussion Questions
- How can fasting unintentionally become a source of shame rather than healing?
- Have you seen fasting become a source of pride?
- What signals tell you someone is fasting in a way that is deforming rather than forming?
- How do we teach fasting as medicine without undermining obedience?
Practical Pastoral Strategies
- Emphasize direction, not perfection
- Pair fasting with prayer, silence, and compassion
- Normalize struggle as revelation and self-understanding, not failure
- Model joyful, humble fasting
Formation happens through rhythm and patience, not pressure.
Clergy Self-Examination
- Do I model freedom, or merely discipline?
- Do my words about fasting lead people toward joy or anxiety?
Closing Reflection
- How can our parishes become places where fasting heals rather than wounds?
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DISCUSSION OUTLINE — Youth
Fasting, Freedom, and Learning to Choose Well
Purpose
To help youth understand fasting as training freedom, not punishment—and as a way to gain self-control, clarity, and joy.
Opening Question
- What’s hardest for you to say “no” to for even one day?
- Snacks?
- Your phone?
- Games?
- Talking back?
- Distractions?
Big Idea
Fasting is about learning that desire doesn’t have to be obeyed immediately.
That’s how freedom begins.
Simple Explanation
- Adam and Eve weren’t starving
- They just didn’t stop and trust
- Fasting teaches us how to pause
Discussion Questions
- Why is it hard to wait when you want something right now?
- How do phones, food, or entertainment control us without us noticing?
- What happens when you choose patience instead of impulse?
Beyond Food
Fasting can include:
- food
- screens
- angry words
- constant noise
It trains us to say:
“I choose love over impulse.”
Joy Check
Real fasting:
- does NOT make you mean
- does NOT make you miserable
- does NOT make you proud
It should help you become:
- calmer
- kinder
- more focused
Activity Option (if time allows)
- Choose one small fast this week (food, phone, silence)
- Pay attention to what it reveals
- Bring that to prayer
Closing Question
- Where do you want more freedom in your life—and how could fasting help?
