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Now, once, I was fasting. I was destined to fast for three weeks. Now the church that I went to had Communion once every month, and it happened that my second last Sunday of fasting was my church's Communion.

Does taking the communion break my fast? If so, should I leave from taking the Communion? Is fasting a "good enough" reason?

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    Just a comment, try to speak about this topic with whoever you feel comfortable talking about spiritual matters. Fasting is good but you should do it moderately and under the guidance of someone more "experienced" :) Hope this helps you
    – deps_stats
    Aug 24, 2011 at 15:51

4 Answers 4

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Per @awe and @Jamess, there are really two sides of this. It can go either way.

Are you breaking your fast? Yes. You truly are. But you have to question: Why am I fasting?

If you are fasting in order to grow closer to God and find reliance only on him, then taking communion would not necessarily be bad. Since communion is meant to draw us to God, then the two acts (fasting and communion) are moving towards the same purpose: moving us closer to God.

If you are fasting, however, in prayer over a specific thing (such as the salvation of a person or deliverance from a trial), then you should avoid the fast. The purposes of the two acts (fasting and communion) are at odds.

Having said all of this, I believe this verse is appropriate to the subject:

1 cor. 10:31

31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

If you chose to break fast for communion, make sure you do it for God's glory. If you chose to skip communion for the fast, make sure it's for God's glory. If you follow that advice, you won't go wrong.

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    +1 for the main thrust of the argument, though I disagree that participating in communion is breaking a fast in any meaningful way; if it is, it's purely a technicality unless you eat a whole lot more at communion that any church I have ever attended.
    – user32
    Sep 2, 2011 at 7:37
  • @SoftwareMonkey Agreed. If anything, eating a small amount like that will actually whet your appetite making it even harder for you to fast. It certainly won't be alleviating your hunger. So in that sense, it's not really cheating. Ideally, though, this is something that you ought to decide before you start fasting. If you establish the rules that you are going to follow, before you vow to follow them, then you can stick to the rules. If you don't define the rules, you'll get stuck in confusing situations like this. Aug 2, 2013 at 15:55
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The discipline of fasting is a time of introspection on God by forsaking some of the human need (here food) for a period. Communion is a time of fellowship with God in community. I believe we should follow the spirit of Bible, which is expressed in 2 Corinthians 3:6 last part (for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. quoted from NIV). Jesus always wanted His followers to uphold the this principle when He healed people on a sabbath day.

So I would this taking communion will not breach the fasting, since here fasting is taken from food to have closer fellowship with God during that time and communion encourages that fellowship.

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For believers in constubstantiation, there is a biblical precedent for prioritizing the Eucharist over the fast. Since Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Christ is in fact, present. And, if he is present, Mark 2:18-20 comes into play:

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

The Eucharist often goes by the term feast for a reason - it is a joyous occasion that is properly celebrated in the presence of the Christ. During Lent, Sundays are specifically called out as feast days when the fast is supposed to be broken.

For this reason, there is good biblical sanction not to continue a fast when, in deed, the bride groom is here!

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Fasting is definitely a "good enough" reason not to take the communion. The communion is to remember the last meal Jesus had with his Diciples, and fasting is to not have a meal. Although the communion is not just any meal, it is still a meal.

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    The meal isn't just to celebrate having had a meal. We continue to partake of the SAME meal in remembrance of the SAME thing that meal commemorated, not in memory of the meal.
    – Caleb
    Aug 25, 2011 at 12:33

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