LIVE IT TODAY: Friday, February 20, 2026
I am your Bridegroom—learn to rejoice in My presence and to fast when love longs more deeply for Me.
LIVE IT TODAY: Friday, February 20, 2026
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GOD’S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I am your Bridegroom—learn to rejoice in My presence and to fast when love longs more deeply for Me.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Matthew 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
Christian fasting is not gloom—it is love learning how to long.
John’s disciples are confused. Religious people fast. That is what serious believers do. Yet Jesus’ disciples are feasting. The question is not about discipline but about identity. They have not yet grasped who stands before them.
Jesus calls Himself the Bridegroom. This is covenant language. In the prophets, God is the Bridegroom of Israel. Now Jesus quietly applies that title to Himself. The presence of Christ changes the calendar. When the Bridegroom is present, the proper posture is joy.
Yet He also speaks of absence. “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away.” The Greek suggests a violent removal. The cross stands in the background. Joy and fasting are not opposites; they are movements of love in different seasons.
Fasting in the Christian life is not performance or punishment. It is relational. When the Bridegroom seems hidden, love expresses itself through longing. We fast not because God is harsh, but because we desire Him more than comfort.
This speaks deeply to the domestic church. A home shaped by Christ understands rhythm—feasting and fasting, celebration and sacrifice. Children who see joyful discipline learn that love is not ruled by appetite. They learn that saying no to self can mean saying yes to Someone greater.
Love rejoices in presence and endures in absence. It does not reduce devotion to routine. It moves with the Bridegroom.
Build saint-forming homes by embracing both joyful celebration and meaningful sacrifice, pray over your children by name that their hearts hunger for Christ above all else, and act daily in the power of the Holy Spirit, teaching your family that fasting is love stretched toward the Bridegroom.
“Fasting expresses conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others.” (CCC 1434)
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
In My Heart: Do I understand fasting as punishment, or as a way of loving Christ more deeply?
In My Home: How can we practice joyful discipline without gloom or resentment?
In My World: What small sacrifice could witness to my love for the Bridegroom?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, name one small sacrifice you can offer this Lent as an expression of love for Jesus.
Then pray together aloud. As parents, place a hand on each person and pray over them by name, asking that they know God’s love personally, be freed from the Enemy’s lies about comfort and self-indulgence, be strengthened to overcome temptation, and be filled with joyful longing for Christ.
Daily Challenge: Offer one intentional fast today—food, screen time, or preference—and unite it to your love for Jesus.
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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