Ash Wednesday and Lent now begin.
Last night, a number of the seminarians were able to attend a dinner hosted by Saint Paul Outreach (SPO) honoring Archbishop Flynn's leadership over the past decade. There many of us enjoyed a very fancy meal and rich dessert for - what should be - the last time for a long while.
More to the point, our daily Mass on Tuesday, 05 February, was celebrated by the rector of the Saint Paul Cathedral. In his homily, he noted our preparation for the season of Lent. He made a familiar point but in a way that was new to me. He said that "Lent is not an exercise in holding your breath." That is, one should not eat all the chocolate one can on the Tuesday before Lent and then overindulge again after the season is over.
Rather than holding one's breath, I must take less, give more, and do more for others.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Lent is not an Exercise in Holding Your Breath
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4 comments:
As I recall, there are a few feast days in Lent. One surely could enjoy a nice meal, within reason. In their penances, some people even take Sundays off! As such, maybe your 'should' should be a 'could'?
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Yes, I thought we aren't supposed to fast, etc. on Sundays...
Yes, I remember being told by my mother while growing up that we do not do our penances on the Sundays in Lent. It is quite the interesting thing, and seems debatable (yes, John Paul II did say every Sunday is a "little Easter"). It seems the real question is whether the Sundays "count" as days in Lent in which we do penance; do Sundays count as part of the 40 days of Lent? I believe the answer is yes, though I'm not 100% certain. This is based upon looking at what the season of Lent actually is: it runs from Ash Wednesday until the beginning of the Easter Triduum on Holy Thursday, exclusive of the Solemnities of St. Joseph and the Annunciation (yes, that's right, Saint Patrick's Day is not a solemnity and is therefore a day of Lent!). Also, then, all of the Lenten Season is to maintain its penitential character (hence, even on the solemnities in Lent, the Alleluia is still omited). Afterall, what's the purpose of Lætare Sunday if every Sunday is a Sunday for "lætus"? So, in the end, I must conclude that my mother was right; the Sundays of Lent are days of continued penance.
You mean that you *disagree* with your mother since she said *not* to do penances on Sunday? Or am I not reading your wording right?
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