St. John Chrysostom on Fasting

Over and over, the teachings of our early Church leaders clearly explain why we do the things we do in the Church today. On fasting, St. John Chrysostom clarifies in his teachings, and what most struck me was the following:

what gain is there when, on the one hand we avoid eating chicken and fish and, on the other, we chew-up and consume our brothers? He who condemns and blasphemes is as if he has eaten brotherly meat, as if he has bitten into the flesh of his fellow man.

The act of fasting is not the act of staying away from a particular food-group, but rather the sacrifice and humility before not only God but fellow being.