Today is Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow starts the season of Lent in preparation for Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer (through prayer, self-denial, penitence, and alms-giving) for the commemoration of Holy Week and the celebration of Easter. It lasts 4 weeks (44 days), although some religions celebrate only 40 with Sunday being considered a day of non-Lent. This was, I always thought, to represent the 40 days that Christ spent in the desert.
Growing up Catholic we would participate in Lent and I remember as a little kid in our small church in Mississippi that we would get these little cardboard boxes that we would put our coins in to donate to buy rice for the starving children in Africa. I always liked that little church in Mississippi and felt a close connection there. That is where we were living when I thought about becoming Pope.
I've since lost my connection with The Church, but I still try and participate in Lent. I'm not certain what I'm going to give up this year, but I guess I need to make that decision in the next 16 hours or so since I can't have it again for 4 weeks. Who knows, maybe this will be the year that I resurrect my relationship with God...
4 comments:
taters?
please not chicken....
Maybe I'll give up french fries...
In the King's house I definitely wouldnt give up any food.
As far as resurecting a relationship with God, thats the best thing I heard all day
Prepare to mock me:
Never made the connection between Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday before.
In trying to think of things to give up for Lent I realized that I did that about 2 1/2 months ago. This will need to be a post...
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