Great leaders like Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King were all deeply spiritual and recognized the power of fasting as a very powerful tool for social change.

The Angevine Middle School Latino Boys Leadership Skills Group is hosting a 40-day community fast during the 2010 Lafayette Cesar Chavez Celebration.   See their website for more info about them and this fast. http://inclusivelafayette.com/latinoboysleadership.html

For this fast, we simply ask you to take time to reflect and commit (or recommit) to taking action on the social issue that is important to you.  I will be taking a day of silent meditation and prayer on Monday April 19th as my contribution to this community effort.

There are a variety of “purposes” for fasting, but a central purpose is that of reconciliation – to God and one’s neighbor.  From the practice of fasting we should be able to see God’s vision for our world more clearly and become determined to live with integrity. Fasting helps us identify the grave injustices around us, acknowledge and take responsibility for our participation and complicity in such injustice, and prepares us to act with God to transform ourselves and the world.

You are invited to fast for just 1-3 days between March 21st and April 30th.  When you are done, the fast will be passed on to the next person.  You will begin fasting as sunrise on the first day and end your fast at sunset on the final day.