The world is starving, and most do not even know it.

We are surrounded by abundance and drowning in emptiness. Endless words fill the air, yet truth is treated like an intruder. Men boast of progress while children are corrupted, families collapse, nations tremble, and souls wander farther from God. Even within the life of the Church, confusion and compromise have wounded many hearts and weakened many shepherds.

And still, heaven calls us to something the modern world despises:

PENANCE.

Not performance.
Not outrage.
Not political theater.

PENANCE.

When the disciples could not cast out the demon, Our Lord did not tell them they needed better arguments, better organization, or more influence. He said: “This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:28).

There are powers of darkness moving through the world that will not be overcome by human strength alone. We are watching the consequences of pride, impurity, greed, sacrilege, cowardice, and rebellion against God unfold before our eyes. Wars deepen. Violence spreads. Souls despair. Truth is mocked. The innocent suffer while many remain spiritually asleep.

This is why the Nineveh Fast matters.

Nineveh was not saved by wealth or military strength. It was saved because a sinful people humbled themselves before God. They fasted. They repented. They cried out for mercy.

Today, we must cry out again.

Fast for the children whose innocence is stolen. Fast for priests who are weary or afraid. Fast for bishops to speak truth with courage. Fast for families under attack. Fast for a world that has forgotten God.

Fasting is not merely denying the body. It is placing ourselves before God and saying: “Lord, without You, we perish.”

The demons of our age feed on comfort, distraction, impurity, noise, and spiritual laziness. Fasting strikes directly against them because it teaches the soul again how to hunger for God instead of the world.

Do not underestimate hidden sacrifice.

A soul kneeling silently before God in fasting and prayer may do more to save the world than crowds shouting in the streets.

So enter this Nineveh Fast seriously. Offer real sacrifice. Pray deeply. Make reparation for sins – your own and the sins of the world. Beg God for mercy while mercy is still being offered.

The hour is later than many believe. But the Heart of Christ is still open to those willing to return to Him.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland