Bait and Switch at the Jesuit Retreat Center

I've been looking forward to this retreat for a long time, Friday through Sunday at the Jesuit  Center in Wernersville, PA  (near Reading).  It attracted me because it was being given by a Paulist priest, Kripalu trained yoga instructor, Father Thomas Ryan.  Since beginning a yoga practice, I have searched for ways to understand and integrate it with Catholic Christian spirituality.  I have learned from a dozen or so teachers from various traditions and taken classes in different cities, countries and even a cruise ship.  Some teachers focus only on the physical and others incorporate chant, discussion of chakras, Sanskrit words, meridians and readings from eastern mystics.  This makes me a bit uncomfortable, since I am pretty much a color inside the lines Catholic.  This weekend was titled, 'Pray All Ways', with one segment dedicated to praying with yoga.  The first session on Friday night was listed on the schedule as meditation.  But at the beginning of the talk, Father Ryan drew a different inspiration from the day's scripture readings for the first week in Lent, set aside his planned topic and replaced it with an entirely new one that was not part of the program -- on Fasting (as in not eating food!).  Needless to say, this challenged me at my flabby core!  I was looking forward to some gentle yoga, silent prayer and relaxation, nothing too hard, and all of a sudden, I am listening to a compelling, cohesive presentation of Catholic Church teaching (from an apostolic constitution from Pope Paul VI and a pastoral statement from the Catholic bishops in 1966) on the value of penitential practice, including fasting.  Talk about a bit uncomfortable?   But, wait I'm diabetic --remember?  As if reading my mind, he said, "And if you're diabetic, maybe your fasting takes the form of fasting from second helpings..."  And another of his points that I recorded while furiously taking notes was, "What we have yet to understand is that the body tolerates a fast far better than a feast."  That was just as I was thinking to myself that maybe I should call Dr. Natalie to see if missing a meal sometimes might be a problem.  My bemused reaction to that thought was that if I don't call her for permission to gorge myself from time to time, do I really have to be concerned that missing a meal or two is grounds for serious medical consultation??  Especially if I am drinking vegetable broth or diluted fruit juice and lots of water?  I think not!!
Anyway, somehow I know that in God's providence and sense of humor, it was no coincidence that he changed his message; this is one I need to relearn.  And I bought his book, "The Sacred Art of Fasting".   Check out his website for http://www.tomryancsp.org/.