Episode 263 - The Power of Abstinence

On Ash Wednesday, we begin our fast — not with dread, but with joy. We remember that abstinence is not deprivation, but power: a weapon against the enemy, a guard for the soul, a path toward freedom. We face our mortality, embrace penance, and enter the season together — publicly, corporately, with ashes and long prayers and hunger. Yet we are warned: without mercy, without almsgiving, without love, the fast fails. Outward acts must be matched by an inward turning. This is how the desert blooms.