“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:5-8)

Commentary

When we ask why God doesn’t hear our pleas, Isaiah tells us that our fasting—in effect, all of our prayer life—is meaningless if we’re indifferent and immobilized in the face of human pain, if we “hide” from our “own kin.”

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