In today's Gospel (Mt 9: 14-15) John's disciples ask Jesus why Jesus' disciples do not fast, while the Pharisees and the disciples of John "fast much." Jesus' answer invokes the analogy of a wedding feast, pointing out that the guests do not mourn when the bridegroom is with them. Jesus then predicts that the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away, and "then they will fast." Obviously Jesus is referring to Himself as the Bridegroom. So, are we in the time when "the bridegroom is taken away"? Should we be fasting? Or is the bridegroom still with us? Since Lent is a time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, when we anticipate Jesus' crucifixion, we are tempted to say we're in that time when the Bridegroom is gone. But Lent also anticipates the resurrection, when the Bridegroom returns. So which is it? The answer, as so often seems to be the case, is a "both/and" answer. We live in the time between Jesus' ascension and His return, so in a sense He is not with us. But He is present in the Eucharist, and with us when we pray and reflect on the scriptures. The reality is that there are only two days on which Church tells us to fast in Lent: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Maybe that proportion of fasting days versus non-fasting days gives us a sense of how to think about the presence or absence of the Bridegroom. Jesus is here among us, even in this season of Lent, much more than He has been taken away. And I think that realization helps us on our Lenten journey. We don't walk it alone. The Bridegroom walks it with us.