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Have you ever had the doldrums when it came to prayer time and you just found yourself seemingly going through the motions?\xa0 Or perhaps you even found it impossible to pray?\xa0 When distractions overwhelm you to where your mind just won\u2019t settle down and focus?\xa0 Does that happen to you?\xa0\xa0 I have an answer for you!\xa0 Enter into the prayer of fasting!\xa0 St. Thomas Aquinas says that\xa0\u201cwe fast for three purposes:\xa0 to restrain the desires of the flesh;\xa0to raise the mind to contemplate sublime things; and to make satisfaction for our sins.\u201d\xa0 St. John Chrysostom realized that fasting is not only from food. It\u2019s not just food that leads us away from God.\xa0 He recommended, \u201cLet the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.\u201d\xa0 Join Patti Brunner for this episode as she shows how the Church encourages us to fast and the benefits that can come forth.