Today we begin a 40-day introduction to spiritual fasting, the Benedict Challenge.
St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western monasticism, lived during the collapse of the Roman empire (~500 AD) and felt compelled to provide a communal setting for Christians to avoid the chaos of this collapse. It was a grievous moment and as the Bible recounts in many instances, and fasting is one of the responses that we’re called to engage in when we have a grievous moment like this upon us. So Benedict fasted, and called on his brothers and sisters to do the same.
My motivation for this challenge is that we face a crisis that we face multiple crises. There’s COVID-19 plus the on-going crisis of metabolic syndrome, which has played into a lot of the death from the pandemic.
But also there’s a broader crisis in our culture, which has become hostile to people of faith.
This course is meant for Christians, Catholics, or anyone who feels challenged by the current hostile culture – encouraging you to look first within and see what you can do in your own life to clean up your house; clean up your room.

Buy the course: https://chdeist.gumroad.com/l/ShrVxR