DON'T STOP NOW!

I like to use sugar cubes in my coffee.  It helps me regulate how much sugar I am dumping into my mug.  I used to love about 6 of them per steaming cup of Joe.  Over the years, with the help of Lent, I have been able to wean myself off of so much sugar that I do not even enjoy the sickening sweet way I once loved so much.  This Lent I am down to one cube (except on Sunday when I have two.)  

In very short order, Lent will be over.  There are some choices to be made.  It does mean that I could up my sugar intake again - OR - it could mean that I keep up the health strides that I have made and keep it low and contemplate maybe dropping sugar all together next year.

If your Lenten practices were successful in making you a better version of yourself - more spiritual, healthier, kinder, more charitable - don’t chuck it on Easter - or at least keep some aspect of it going.  Hopefully your practice assisted you in becoming someone a person for whom you have more respect, someone who exercised more discipline, stepped up to some responsibility, made more of a positive impact on the world.  Why stop - or at least, why stop all together?  

It is like exercise.  NOBODY (and by nobody I guess I mean me) likes it in the doing of it.  But boy, are you glad later that you did.  Celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of Christ by keeping the gains you made over the past (almost) 40 days.  What better way to mark our salvation and keep the hope of becoming saints alive?

MOMENTO MORI

Looking for one more thing to do for Lent that is a one shot deal and doesn’t involve giving up your favorite edibles?  This was suggested on one of the podcasts to which I listen and the more I think about it, the better I like it.  I think I will give it a shot.

Here it is:  Write your obituary.  Wait!  Hold on.  It’s not as morbid as it sounds.  Keep reading.  So, this is the summation of what you hope people will think of you.  What do you hope people will take away from your life?  It is very clarifying because you only get about two paragraphs with very little explanation.

When a family comes in to talk about the funeral of a loved one, more often than is comfortable the only things that they come up with is “she liked to gamble,” or “he loved the Indians.”  Impressions of passions rise to the fore.  It is such a blessing when the family can come in and have something to say about faith or the care that their loved one had for family or the community or something they did that made the world a better place.

So what do you hope your obit says about you?  After you have written it, then contemplate what are you doing, what are you emphasizing in your life in order to earn this obituary - would somebody else write this about you?

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: DUTY IS NONE-THE-LESS FOR BEING PLEASURE

One of the things that I am doing for Lent this year is a practice of every day giving something away and/or throwing something away.  We've been off to a great start!

It is not always easy.  It can be a challenge.

The sad thing is that this is the third year in a row that I have been doing this particular penitential act and I cannot fathom why there is STILL SO MUCH STUFF THAT I CAN GIVE AWAY.

ONLY 39 MORE DAYS TO GO! YOU CAN DO IT!

There is not a lot of accountability in lent.  If you did not fast yesterday, chances are there was nobody around who had power to discipline you.  If you ate meat there wouldn't be a cut in your pay. If you are not giving up something for Lent (of doing something extra) you won't get a ticket.  If you are not diving into prayer and almsgiving, you won't receive a warning notice from the city.  Lent is entirely voluntary and you will get out of it exactly as much as you put in to it.

How awesome it is that we are encouraged in our self disciplines rather than under the watchful eye of a Big Brother.  It means that whatever we undertake, it is not a matter of outside forces guiding our actions from which we look forward to escaping the moment the pressure is released.  It is, rather, something that comes from within, forming habits and character, not just compliance.

May your Lenten practices steep you in Truth, bathe you in Goodness and set you aglow in Beauty for the rest of you life.

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: REMEMBER YOU ARE DUSTY

This last week there were a couple of priests visiting at St. Sebastian and we started talking about our techniques for distributing ashes.  You may think that it's just sticking your thumb in some burned palms and smearing them on a person's forehead - but for practiced ash distributors, there is a developed method.  From that night's discussion, this seems to be the most common:

Ashes, as it is well known, are made from the previous year's blessed palm branches.  Did you know you that a parish can buy these from a religious goods distributor instead of making their own?  I don't know WHAT they do to them, but like wine, the store bought brand is always better than the home made.  They stick better, have better consistency, last longer . . . How do they do it?  Homemade always seem to be just a little chunkier no matter what and you really have to grind them in to get them to stick!  (Sorry St. Sebastianites.)

So, as you well know, this day is a very solemn and dignified celebration requiring the utmost gravitas.  The dangerous mix of homemade ashes, an emotionally charged atmosphere and communal expectation makes occurrences that would otherwise not be humorous in the least outrageously hilarious.   Such as this:

I think after almost 20 years of doing this, I have FINALLY grown rather immune to this occurrence. But not all priests.  The way to determine if the person in front of you had a pile of ashes collect on their nose is to look into the face of a young priest and check for these signs:

PENANCE AND LOVE

This is year can be one of the most enthralling, memorable and love enhancing St. Valentine’s Day in 70 years.  That is the last time that St. Valentine and Ash Wednesday had to share the same day.  If we are smart, we will use it for all that it is worth.

SOME PEOPLE (certainly not you) will see this as a mighty inconvenience.  Decisions have to be made: Do I show traditional forms of love to the object of my affections OR do I show my respect to my faith and love of God by following the disciplines of the Church that He founded.  The answer is: neither!  It is a chance to shine in both arenas.

First a quick note:  One of the reasons that couples who do not live together or engage in sexual activity before marriage is that they are forced to find more creative and often very subtle ways of expressing to the other their deep love, respect, and admiration when sexual congress is not an option.  Once sexuality enters into a relationship, many of these more subtle yet foundational ways of expressing love gets left at home while its wilder twin parties every night.  

For most couples, there will be a time or period in there life when marital relations are not an option.  How do you express and understand both how to love and how to recognize and BE loved?  If you haven’t had practice at some point in your life at this, it can be difficult to trust and to start.

Well here is a day to find a new, creative, fun, challenging, unique way to show the person you love just how much you love him or her.  Step one: put away your credit card.  It is a day of fast and abstinence so no chocolate and no big fancy dinner.  Corporate America is going to be very disappointed in you.  So what can you do that is different on this day than all of the others that will make it clear to the person that you love that they are more special to you than could ever know?  What can you do besides just buying the traditional Valentine’s junk that will go on sale for half price the day after Valentines - being pushed aside as the bring the St. Patrick Day stuff out?  What will be cherished by the person you love AND show reverence for the faith that you practice AT THE VERY SAME TIME?  This is your day and your year to shine!

I'M GIVING UP THIS OLD PAIR OF SHOES FOR LENT

I've had these shoes forever.  The leather tops are splitting, there is a hole in one of the soles.  The backs are broken down from slipping them on and off without bothering with the shoes strings and the heels are worn to a terrible slant.  So I am giving them up for lent.  (My sister will be so glad.)

I've been holding on to them thinking that I might need them.  You never know.  I MIGHT need to be both semi-dressed up AND need to do something dirty at the same time - like dig a hole as part of a as of yet un-rediscovered Catholic ceremony not unlike Arbor Day.  So they sit there at the bottom of the shoe hierarchy awaiting their big day.  Which has not come for two years save for one time I wanted to make the point that I COULD still wear them walking the dog.

My life is full of this stuff.  I MIGHT need something.  Some day.  For Some thing.  And sometimes that is great.  "I've got one of those that has been sitting around for a long time!" is a wonderfully rewarding thing to be able to say.  Unfortunately it is usually followed by, "Now where did I see it last?"  And truthfully, it only happens about once a year.  The occasion to junk space allocation is not good.

So here is one of my Lenten resolves.  (Why isn't lent capitalized?)  Every day in lent I will give away one thing and discard one thing.  First on the list is this ratty pair of shoes (trash) and a pair of cufflinks (give away.)  I recommend this as part of your lenten practice.  It serves many purposes: un-cluttering your life - discerning what you really need - being aware of what you have - giving to others (charity) - becoming detached from things.

I have been chomping at the bit to get started but learned my lesson a few years ago when I tried this last.  The first 20 days - EASY.  The next 10 one had to be a little more discerning.  The last ten . . . OUCH!  (That's about 80 items!)  Now two things make it a little easier for me.  1st - we have a Good will truck on our property.  2nd - I am allowed to cheat a couple of times and walk over to the church a make a donation to the Poor Box as part of the give away.  But to do that too often is cheating and infringing on others works of charity for lent.

So I offer this to you as something to do for lent - give up your old shoes for lent.

IS LENT AWFUL?

Each of us has a decision to make today and there are (basically) two choices.

Choice #1 - Lent is a terrible time of trial.  There are extra Masses, confessions, Stations of the Cross, focusing in my faults, giving things up, doing things I promised to do, extra praying, alms giving (ugh)  and so forth.  I am going to be miserable I can’t wait until just after midnight on Easter morning so I can chuck it all and start living again.

Choice #2 - Lent is AWESOME!  Through discipline and focus, I will become a better person spiritually, mentally, and physically.  I will become more like the person God created me to be.  It is like exercise or practice, defiantly not always fun, but the results are always worth it.  And the best part about it is, as I walk around today, I will notice that there are crazy amounts of my brothers and sisters with ashes on their foreheads that are doing the exact same thing.  We are one giant community of people setting out to improve themselves and this world.

So there you go. 

Choose.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

It is a beautiful day.

A beautiful day is a perfect day to recommit to Lent.

You’re in better mood today, more determined and willing.

Stop moping over not being faithful to your Lenten resolve.

Look forward to what you will do starting now.

If you didn’t do what you wanted to do, start doing it today.

If you did do what you said you wouldn’t, reset the date of your “sobriety” starting now and hold out as long as you can.

If you haven’t done or not done anything, pick something NOW.  It’s not too late.  It’s not too late until it’s too late.

NEED HELP?  Go HERE for a Lenten Penance Generator!

No more excuses!

You can do this!

It will be awesome and you will be happier a the end of Lent.

Go to it buckaroo!  Today is your day.  Starting today you will be closer to your Father.

ONE SURE SIGN OF HEAVEN: THERE WON'T BE ANY STUFF

I open up a drawer and think, “Gads.  I’ve not gone through this drawer in months.  I should probably get rid of half of this stuff.”

I open up a closet and think, “What am I doing with some of the stuff?  I haven’t touched it in forever.”

So one of my lenten resolves was this: To give something away every day for lent.

Here is the problem: It turns out that I am having a blast doing it.  In fact, I am about a week ahead of schedule.  

The last time I had to do this was when my parents died.  My sisters and I did not know what to do with all of their stuff.  (There was a lot of just plain STUFF.)  So we got a little creative.  I took a bunch of plates to a friend’s house who had a matching set and slowly started adding plates and other pieces they did not formerly own to their cupboards. 

It’s fun to go to yard sales and leave things.

It’s amazing how much stuff you can get rid of by putting nicknacks on display shelves in restaurants.

We put a bowling ball in the trunk of their neighbor’s car.  That might have been a mistake.

We put a pair of cowboy boots in a cousin’s car.  They took them out and left them on the devil strip (tree lawn) and it attracted the entire neighborhood to come stand around the boots trying to figure out from where they came and if the owners would return to pick them up.  (No.)

But that’s not what I am doing for lent.  Goodwill, family, and friends are just occasionally receiving gifts of things (I think) that actually want and like.  I was NOT looking forward to doing it but now every day I look around wondering what who and what will be the next victim of my lenten resolve to declutter my life.

So now I wonder, is it still a lenten practice if it is enjoyed?  As C. S. Lewis once said, “Duty is none-the-less for being pleasure.”

GREMLINS IN YOUR CHURCH

Most likely last night there were some volunteers in your church.  They came in after the last service.  For St. Sebastian that would have been after 8:00PM Vespers and Benediction.  They carted away all of the plants in the church.  The altar clothes were removed and replaced with simple altar clothes.  The ones that were removed (for St. Sebastian this would be four of them; great swaths of material from the two altars in use and the two side altars) were taken to be laundered and then (God bless our volunteers) ironed and put into storage.  Extra candles and all other decorations were stored away.  (I believe in undecorating for Lent.)  For those parishes that believe in decorating for Lent, purple banners were put up, dead twigs and other various and sundry things brought out.   Green vestments are put away and all of the purples ones are put out and made handy.

 

Perhaps palms were burned to make ashes.  Fr P. called yesterday to say that he had burned his palms.  I asked if he were at the hospital.  They are then placed in containers so that they may be easily distributed today.  A table is probably set up with them and the holy water.

 

This was all done in order for you to have a Lenten experience when you showed up at Mass this morning.  Say a prayer for the gremlins that just make things happen.

ARE YOU READY? DO YOU HAVE A PLAN?

Wouldn’t it be great to wake up seven days from now and know exactly what you are going to do rather than scrambling and coming up with something less than spectacular?  We are seven days away from Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  There is no better time to prepare than now!

 

There are all kinds of categories from which to choose!  So many options!  So many ways to grow in freedom, joy, and holiness!  It is like an amazing box of chocolates.  Which one will you take?  The difference is that chocolate taste great but then leaves you with that extra pound around your middle.  These, however, may taste a bit bitter at first but then leave you with many gifts and consolations.

 

MENTAL

PHYSICAL

EMOTIONAL

 

You are an entire person.  You faith effects all of these.  What can you do to make them better in 40 days?

 

PRAYER

FASTING

ALMSGIVING

 

These are the basic, but not only tools.  These come first however.  They are the foundation stones.  How will you meet all of them during these 40 days?

 

DO

DON’T DO

 

What have you NOT been doing that you should?  What have you been doing that you shouldn’t?

 

SELF

OTHERS

GOD

 

In addition to what you can do for yourself, what can you improve in yourself for others?  What can you improve in yourself for the Kingdom?

 

PERMANENT

PERIODIC

TEMPORARY

 

Sometimes people will ask if Lenten observances should be just during Lent?  Can they be skipped on Sundays and Feast days?  Well that depends.

 

Let’s say that you are trying to give up drinking too much alcohol for Lent.  Drinking to excess is not good for you (or those around you) anyway.  So that would be a good one to start in Lent and carry our through the rest of your life on a pretty much absolute basis.

 

What about giving in on Sundays?  There are a number of questions to ask.  Firstly, is it something that is otherwise not good for you or sinful?  Then no, don’t do it on Sunday as a “break.”  If you gave up cake, don’t eat an entire cake on Sunday in celebration.  ON THE OTHER HAND (and here is a good reason to plan things now) what is your commitment?  Is it something that is not necessarily bad for you in moderation?  Did you give up coffee except on Sundays?  Or did you give up coffee?

 

ALONE

FRIENDS/FAMILY

PARISH

 

Is you Lenten observance (or part of it) something that you are doing quietly – a “don’t let your right hand . . .” thing?  Do you want to employ others for support?  (I highly recommend this for breaking habits.)  What is your parish doing for Lent?  Plan NOW to join that which you will have wished that you did at the end of Lent.  (Stations, missions, benedictions, confessions, concerts, classes, adoration, daily Mass . . .)

 

In any event – plan now so that at the end of the season you don’t have to think, “Wow, I really didn’t take advantage of this season in the least.”  You will have eaten it down to its marrow and rejoiced in the improved you.

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: GUESS WHAT BOOK I'M READING

For Lent, the parish has started a new workout program for those who don't have anything better to do with their early mornings hours besides sleep.  I took it on as part of my Lenten devotions since I've hardly exercised at all during the winter months.  In fact, it is part of a greater Lenten resolve to take a little bit better care of this Temple of the Holy Spirit in general, which has been sorely neglected.  If it were an actual building, it would need a new roof, some plumbing work, and a good paint job.  So here we go.  The only down side is beginning to exercise just before leading Stations of the Cross.  The knees revolted.

Cue: swelling music and a slow crawl up to a standing position. . .

STAY FOCUSED! YOU CAN DO IT!

A few years after having studied with him I went up to my philosophy professor (RIP) and said, “You know, I hated studying philosophy but now I see how useful it is and wish I had taken it more seriously.”

 

He got a weary but sympathetic look on his face and said, “I know.  The problem with philosophy is that it has a long fuse.”  By this he meant that you have to learn a lot of philosophy and live with it for a while before there is any kind of pay off.  Or, as the sign on my friend’s barn door says more simply, “Hard work eventually pays off.  Laziness pays off now.”

 

That is one of the insidious problems with good and evil.  Evil most often starts off at least feeling like a good but does its damage later, while doing good (like getting up early this morning in the what I hope is the last winter storm to go to the gym to work out) can start off feeling like a trial but then pays off.  Some of what lent tries to do is get us past that initial desire to enjoy sin and get over the initial hump of goodness in order to enjoy its benefits.  That is what God want for you.

 

Having the discipline to turn off the T.V. or computer and go to bed earlier so that you can be fresh in the morning to meet your day’s obligations is a good thing.  God wants you, as far as is possible, to have enough sleep.

 

Cutting down on your food intake if you need to so that you don’t feel bloated later is a good thing and what God wants for you.

 

Getting off of the couch and doing some exercise so that you feel stronger later and look better is not a selfish thing but treating the temple of the Holy Spirit the way it should be treated and is part of God’s plan for you.

 

Trying to make peace with others so that life is more enjoyable is part of God’s plan for you.  Having your sins forgiven so that you have a clear conscience is in his desire for you.  Expanding your learning to open you up to the wonders of creation is his gift waiting for you to open.  Even though it is not supposed to be the point, he gives you consolations when you work charitably for others because he wants you to know his love.  Taking some time on your own to pray quietly every day is not forsaking other duties but is as necessary as taking time to eat and sleep and is His desire for you.  Forgoing a good in the Lenten season is so that you might have a stronger will, greater discipline, more control and more freedom.  All these are His gifts and wishes for you.

 

Now get out there and RUMBLE! 

IS THE SMOKER MERELY INCENSING THE TEMPLE?

Sometimes at the end of a confession, when a person has expressed all of the sins they can recall, will ask me, “Can you think of anything else?”  They are not supposing that I know them so well that I might make some suggestion of sin of theirs that I might know about but rather is there any area that they may not have considered.  Visiting a whole examination of conscience is a difficult thing to do especially with Easter on our tails and long lines outside of the confessional, but there are generally a couple of questions I might ask.

 

One is, “Are you taking care of yourself?”  We often think of the Christian life – particularly the road to sainthood – as one of denial.  There are times when the denial of the necessities of life are called for.  There is also both a time for denying ourselves the surpluses in life and a time for celebrating with them.  But as a general rule, we are to treat our bodies (that is, ourselves) with care.

 

The body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  There is a certain dignity that is present in that.  We should treat it at least as well as we treat our church buildings.  We believe our churches should be clean, well maintained, well appointed without being ostentatious, welcoming, inspiring, consecrated and wholly directed toward the things that are Godly and noble.

 

Should our bodies, physical and living temples of the Holy Spirit, receptacles of the Body and Blood of Jesus being any less so treated?  Do we give ourselves the rest we need (to the extent we are able), consume the proper food and drink at the appropriate amounts, do we exercise, follow the direction of our doctors, observe the times of penance as well as the times of rejoicing, and adorn our bodies modestly?  

 

Being Christian does not mean we ignore our bodies or our health unless it is called upon for the greater glory of God or benefit of our brothers and sisters.  (After all, we do hold up martyrs as an ideal.)  But this life is also gift, and we should treat this gift as preciously as we can.

MONDAY DIARY: THE PENITENTIAL SEASON

So two weeks ago our bishop decided that every parish in the diocese would have three hours of confessions on Wednesday night.  In theory anyway, every parish would be open and you could go anywhere in the diocese and go to confession.  It sounded like a great and holy things to do.

I will admit that although I was all for it, I was a bit nervous.  We are fortunate that so many people in this parish go to confession (or that people come here for confession.)  We have confessions three days a week, the Benedictines have them here every other Sunday, and Fr. Marty has his confessions here on Wednesdays.  That confessions 5 times a week.  And many, many times we go over the allotted times for confession. 

 

Which is EXACTLY what made me apprehensive.  Would there be enough people to go to confession to fill three hour's time or would we be staring at the four corners of the confessional for most of it.

 

It's not that I haven't sat for that amount of time to hear confessions.  That happens often enough especially at large retreats.  But the difference is when those are done, you are done and you leave.  This night however we might hear 5 confessions the first half hour and then sit there in that tiny little box for the next two and a half hours without so much as a window to look out, counting the holes in the sound tiles after having said several rosaries.

 

And our confessionals were not built for people over 6'.  It is a lot like flying coach.  If I want to cross my legs I practically have to open my door to do it.  As Daffy Duck once said, "My dressing room is so small I have to go outside to change my mind."

 

Oh yes, I sound like a baby.  "Get over it," I hear some people saying.  But as Blaise Pasquale once said, "Most evil comes into the world because human beings cannot sit still in a chair for 30 minutes."  (Have you ever been in a doctor's office when he is running late?)  Along the same lines a priest once said, "To breathe 25 times without distraction: That's discipline!  That's freedom!"

 

So much for being the hero.

 

So I tool some stuff with me just in case:

Then, like a good professional - I made sure that all of the equipment was in working order:

 Then it was time to hunker down and get ready for whatever was coming.

But you know what?  It was an AWESOME night!  From the moment our "vacant" lights came on until over three hours later we had solid lines of penitents (and we were cranking them out!)  Fortunately a priest friend came the last hour and helped us out so we were able to cut down the line some.  The confessions were great and it was an absolute success.

And I got some cool texts from other priests that night.

 

Now I am all excited to do it again next year.  Who says that the sacrament of confession is dead?!



IS IT A LITTLE WARM AND FUZZY IN HERE OR IS IT JUST ME?

It’s Lent!  And time to start breaking the bindings of our seasonal missalettes to the song section immediately following Christmas.  Always an interesting time of year.  (I am about to rant a little.  If you are not in the mood, stop reading.)

 

Keeping strictly with the Vatican II documents which states that the words to the music that we sing should be in harmony with the faith of the Church, sometimes I scratch my head and wonder, “what the get out is this song saying?”  Yet we blithely carry on singing anything put in front of us like a pig that will eat any slop chucked down in front of him.

 

For example, the song, “Hosea.”  What exactly does this line mean?  “The wilderness will lead you to your heart where I will speak.”  When I spend enough time teasing out a possible interpretation (Jesus went to pray in the wilderness - The wilderness of our Lenten practices – will my bean burrito will lead me to Jesus?) then I suppose it can mean something.  But – really?  Is the best we can do?

 

Then there’s the song, “Ashes,” a perennial favorite.  There seems to be a lot of Pelagianism here, but perhaps I am being too sensitive.  It just sounds a little bit too much like I’m going to do this on my own, that I don’t really need God, He is just a crutch.  In the meantime God, here are some ashes that I offer you (as opposed to bread and wine.)  I know, I know, it is really saying we are offering ourselves (apparently the worst part of ourselves) until we have something better – but once again, really?  This is the shining example of what we as human beings can muster?

 

Then there are all the “I, me, me, I, I, I, me, me, myself, a little bit of us, but mostly ME,” songs.  Then again the whole book is chuck full of these.  For example, “Jerusalem, My Destiny.”  “I have fixed my eyes on your hills . . . MY destiny . . . I cannot turn away . . . this is OUR journey . . . I have found . . . I find a glimpse . . . I leave the past . . . I have met . . . I have found . . . I awoke.  I, I, me, I-monster”  I’m sure Jesus had SOMETHING to do here.

 

Then there is, “Lord, Who Threw Out These Forty Days?”  Well, of course nobody has.  They are still here.

GUEST BLOGGER: THE MEAT OF THE MATTER

Today we are blessed to hear from our correspondent in Rome, Fr. Ott, about fasting.  Even though the end of lent it is very timely.  Read at your own risk for now you will know. 

To understand why Catholics (and many other Christians) don't eat meat on Fridays in Lent, we first have to understand the roots of the disciplines of fasting and abstinence in general. Then we need to see what it is about Fridays in Lent that make abstaining from meat an appropriate thing to do.

Fasting in the religious sense refers to consciously limiting the amount of food one consumes, for the purpose of arriving at a deeper spiritual awareness. It is a very ancient and biblical spiritual discipline (cf. 2 Sam 12:16; 1 Kgs 21:9; 2 Chr 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Jud 4:13; Esth 4:16; Joel 1:14; Jonah 3:5-7; Acts 13:4). So what does limiting my food have to do with my spiritual life? Eating is something that we generally do rather instinctively, without thinking much about it. I simply feel hungry, and so I go get something to eat, and then I don't feel hungry any more. But when I intentionally disrupt that cycle by fasting, it takes me off of "auto pilot" and helps me to realize what wonderful gifts our creator has given us. Life itself is a most amazing gift, as is the rest of creation, which sustains us and makes life worth living. When we fast, it causes us to stop taking things for granted. Thus it helps me to become more humble and grateful to God for his blessings of life and creation. This is why fasting and prayer are often linked together (cf. Lk 2:37; 5:33). The reordering of priorities, and the renewed sense of blessing and purpose that comes from this brings about greater mental and spiritual clarity, which is why it is often done to prepare for big decisions or life changing events (cf. Acts 13:4; 14:23)

Abstinence is a more specific kind of fasting, in which one completely omits a specific food or activity, often because of its symbolic meaning. This is also an ancient and biblical discipline, often requested by God himself (cf. Gen 32:33; Ex 22:30; Lev 11:4-11; Deut 14:7-21). We don't always know the reasons why God has asked for abstention from various things at certain points in history, but mystics and thinkers sometimes try to guess at these reasons, so that they might have a greater sense of purpose in obeying the law. Deut 14:21, for example, says "You shall not boil a kid goat in its mother's milk." Some have suggested that this is because this was actually a foreign religious practice, and therefore it was inappropriate for Israel to undertake it. Others reasoned that boiling an animal in the milk of its mother was just inhumane.

In the case of abstaining from meat during the Fridays of Lent, you won't find this specific rule in the Bible, because Lent did not exist yet when the Bible was written. But both the season of Lent and the discipline of abstaining from meat on Fridays are practices that are deeply rooted in biblical imagery.

The concept of a forty day pilgrimage is very well attested in the Bible. There are several periods of "forty days" in the world-purifying story of Noah and the flood (Gen 7:12, 17, 8:6). Moses spends forty days up on Mt. Sinai, receiving the Law from the Lord (Ex 24:18). Elijah journeys for forty days to escape Jezebel and get to the mountain of the God (1 Kgs 19:8). And of course, Jesus fasted and prayed for forty days in the desert (Mat 4:2; Mk 1:13; Lk 4:2).

It is out of this tradition that the Church established the forty day season of Lent. During this time, we seek to draw nearer to Jesus by going "into the desert" to fast and pray with him. And giving up meat on Fridays is part of this Lenten pilgrimage project.

To understand why this is, it is helpful to substitute "meat" with a more archaic word that means the same thing: "flesh." This gives a twofold mystical meaning to our abstinence. It can first of all remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus. On Good Friday, he gave himself completely for our sakes: flesh and blood, soul and divinity. When we give up "flesh" in this minor symbol of abstaining from meat, it is a small token reminder of the supreme sacrifice that Jesus gave up for us on the Cross.

The second meaning comes from the Bible, especially the Pauline letters. St. Paul likes to use the word "flesh" to mean "a proclivity to fall into sin" (cf. Rom 7:5, 25, 8:3-13, 13:24; 1 Cor 3:3, 15:50; Gal 4:29, 5:13-24, 6:8; Eph 2:3). In particular, he emphasizes that by conforming ourselves more perfectly to Jesus, we allow our "flesh" (i.e. tendency to sin) to be crucified (i.e., destroyed) along with his "flesh" (i.e., his body) (cf. Gal 5:24; Eph 2:14)

Now, to be sure, there were some cultural factors that led us to adopt this symbolic action. Eating fish instead of meat has at times been a symbol of solidarity with the poor, since fish was sometimes seen as poor people food, since you could catch your own for free. Some have even suggested that there was a time when politicians in areas of Europe with a large fishing industry promoted this discipline as a service to their constituents. But none of these reasons, if they ever existed at all, matter to us now, because these conditions no longer exist.

So, why do we give up meat on Fridays? The Church is just asking us to make a significant action each Friday to remind ourselves that the Lord died for us on that day, and that we should respond by continually asking him for the grace to turn away from sin. And I do mean EACH Friday. Before Vatican II, Catholics were asked to abstain from meat every Friday of the year. After Vatican II, this specific discipline was limited to Lent, but we are still supposed to do something sacrificial every other Friday of the year. I think the hope was that faithful Catholics would go beyond the "letter of the law" and more fully embrace the spirit of it, finding creative and meaningful ways to express their union with Christ through personal sacrifices. But I think that's been kind of a flop. Most Catholics probably have no idea what this is about.

But now, you can spread the word ;)

PLEASE CURB YOUR SINS

I am very happy to report that the trash cans are back in the city parks a month early. For the first time since I’ve lived here they have taken away the trash cans for the winter with the explanation that “they always do that.” The problem with that is that we still need trash cans.

One of the many reasons they are still needed is because even though it is winter, your dog still needs walked and dogs still do their business and you still have to pick it up. Instead of dropping it in the nearest trash in the winter you have to carry the heavy warm goo with you wherever you go. That is why we save plastic bags at St. Sebastian.

Regular plastic grocery bags are Okay but very bulky. Their advantage is that once tied they have a handle by which you may carry them. Slightly better is newspaper bags – especially Sunday’s – they are much easier to stuff into your pocket and are long so that they may be tied and carried, but they are prone to ripping and if it is an especially generous day from your dog, it is sometimes difficult to pull the bag inside out over your fist.

The penultimate is bread bags. They are thick, strong, compact, and long. I save these for special days. But even so – it makes a walk so much more enjoyable if there is a trash can and so you do not have to carry around even this special bag.

Then there are those who are so upset that they have taken away the cans that they leave their special gifts in the park. But you know what? It doesn’t just disappear. Everyone must deal with it then.

You know, it’s Lent. Are you carrying around a load? You know – you don’t have to. Dump your load at confession. Too many people spend too much of their time carrying their stuff around – trying to find the best way to carry it – but no matter how much you may shield yourself from it, you’re still carrying around a bag of stuff. The confessionals are ready. You will enjoy the rest of your journey so much more if you get rid of your load now. Soon, the confessional lines will get longer and longer the closer we get to Easter. Relieve yourself now. Enjoy the freedom. Even if you are a million miles away from where you are supposed to be, you can drop off your bag, turn around and start walking back and tomorrow you will be that much closer.

Don’t leave your mess for others to deal with. No matter how well you think you covered it over or made sure nobody saw, it’s still there and until it is taken care of properly, it’s still a mess that someone else risks accidently stepping in.

Help keep America clean. Put stuff where it belongs.