Eating your food is a sin - for it is selfish. But there is something to redeem you. i.e., a part of selfishness is "divine".You cant possibly exist without food.
You can't simply exist without drinking water; but you can't live for half an hour if water drinks you. Then you will have an early watery-grave.
Prayer and fasting are good and important. Prayer is spiritual food; occasional "fasting" has an additional benefit of cathartic effect; both physical and emotional.
"Feasting" and "fasting" promote your personality when they are discretionary. Too much feasting will burst out your belly.If you extend your "fating",even for any good reason an iota beyond your withstanding capacity, you are surely to collapse. In both the cases, you are liable to be punished for the sin of commiting suicide.
You may be a hero's hero jawan adorned with many awards and stars, for shooting down the maximum number of intruders on the L.O.C. But at home, calm of mind,all passions spent, you'll sit up in your bed in the stillness of the night doubting if you are a cannibal or a patriot. Then your dear wife will dolefully mourn into your ears: "Oh! my dear there is no difference between the two". Then she hastens to soothe you further. "You have been doing the sanctioned murders". You'll slip into a sleep. But when it is morning and you still mourning move to the preacher, who rubbing his sagacious nose quotes Shakespeare "murder most foul even in the best case". He resumes after reading your sulky face, "Who is to be punished is for God to judge".
Half-solaced, you limp back home, seeking shelter in prayer, regretting that you had failed to do it prior to the war. There lies no mercy in mercy killing, even when it has been condescendingly granted to a requesting patient, because the best treatment and the quickest one neednot always coincide. When there is a feud between the two, eschatologically speaking the best should win.
Abortion is a "great" act and it should be done with "great" and meticulous care. Doctors are very careful to the minute details; nurses too are on the alert. Ohterwise, it might prove detrimental to the mother.
Coming out of the theatre, they all agree; "a great success". but the embryo says "there's no greatness in it. The operation was a success, but the patient died".
The scattered thoughts as above will tell you that greatness lies not in destroying life, but saving it. Now, you may apply for an excuse on the ground that the situations reffered to spin beyond your control and capacity. But there is the other side that is feasible. In this respect, i would draw your attention to a picnic of some engineering students (girls only) from Kerala to B'lore. They spent the night there in a famous college. In the morning Fr. Principal came to see them off. He noticed long hairs lying scattered in the hall. He said "Now pick up each one your hair and deposit in the wastebin. They said apologetically:
"Sorry Father, we will sweep it clean". He looked grave, he was not pleased with it. He said seriously: "I've 5 salarised sweepers, but they are not paid for this". Then he looked at them and repeated: " I want their owners to take them", even the teachers went pale, on tenterhooks. There descended a graveyard silence. They thought "he was alright in the evening, but there is some mistake now".
"There's someone who knows it; I'm sure" he said.
The sound signified the sense. There appeared some smile on the teacher's lips. Then it spread among them all. He then gave them pastoral advice and said in the end.
"Everything is possible with Him. Be with Him and pray constantly. Everything will then be well with the world".
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