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For the last two Years during Lent, I have been practicing a loose version of the Islamic fast. I decided on this method of fasting after listening to Muslims of my acquaintance describe their observance of the month of Ramadan (which ended this year on February 8). For thirty days, devout Muslims do not eat or drink anything from sunup to sundown. To sustain themselves, they rise before dawn and have a hearty meal, and at dusk they share a literal "break-fast," often at their mosque and often with people who are hungry because of poverty, not devotion.

The structure of the Ramadan fast appeals to everything I value in fasting. It is rigorous enough to make a difference in my life; it rewards me daily for keeping it; and it has a communal element that builds solidarity and resolve.

Practically every Catholic spiritual writer up till the mid-1960s extolled the importance of fasting. It is a given in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, and has been a fixture in church life and liturgy from the earliest times. The ancient Latin preface for Lent, in words addressed to God, summarizes its effects: "Through bodily fasting, you rein in our imperfections, elevate the mind, lavishly bestow strength and merit."

I have found that to be true. Fasting to me is the spiritual version of athletic training. It is one of the keys to self-mastery and, conversely, a turning away from self-obsession and toward total dependence on God. Even my frequent failings at fasting are instructive; like the Law in Saint Paul, a fast I can't maintain only demonstrates the more my bondage to the flesh and my need to entrust my life to God's mercy and power.