Feast To Famine

Today is one of my favorite days of the year....it's Mardi Gras!  This is one day I can wrap my head and my heart around.  I love a good party, therefore Mardi Gras is right up my alley and I happen to smile when I see the colors purple, green and yellow together!  I also love food... so whether it's Mardi Gras or Pancake Day to you, either works for me.  Today is all about indulging or over indulging as the case may be.  Party on!  Eat those pancakes!  Empty the larder!  Throw me something mister!

The first two months of 2017 have been a veritable feast.  I've traveled to some lovely and interesting places.  I've spent time with some of my favorite people. I did not make any ridiculous resolutions this year so my diet has not yet begun.  The signs of excess fun, food and frivolity are beginning to show which can only mean it's time to dial it all back and refocus.  Time to slow it all down, be more introspective and shut out some of the chatter.  Maybe it's time to stay home for a while (maybe...). It's definitely time to use more discipline when it comes to eating and drinking.  Cue Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of 40 days of living simply, praying more and fasting.  Through these practises we are able to focus more on the journey Jesus made for us and prepare for Easter. Time spent living simply can bring my attention away from the material aspects of life and more to the spiritual ones.  By praying more I have something better than the Internet to connect me to something much more important than anything online.  By fasting I am reminded of the discipline it takes to lead good life in the midst of temptation and can remind me there are many who are in need every day.  This leads to one more part of Lent, alms giving.  This is a great time (well, any time is a great time) to give a little more to our favorite charities or give our time generously to those who need us.  Lent is hard work, right?  But hard work reaps great benefits!  One more reason I love Mardi Gras....Ash Wednesday.

My Confession

I have a confession.....I really don't like Confession. 

As I was driving today my thoughts went to our church mission.  (Many Catholic churches have what they call missions during Lent.  The mission usually involves a visiting priest who gives inspiring, thought provoking and spirit renewing talks on several nights during one week in Lent).  I went on Monday night and really enjoyed the talk.  I was thinking about going again tonight and then I remembered something being mentioned on Monday about a Penance service in addition to the talk on Wed. night.  My immediate reaction was...."hmmm, maybe I won't go".  Instead of thinking ....."great, what a good opportunity to cleanse my battered soul", I thought, "run the opposite direction!"  This has been my reaction to Penance, Reconciliation, Confession....call it what you like, since about the 2nd or 3rd grade.  See?  I told you it was my confession.

I went to a Catholic grammar school and we were required to go to Confession every Friday ( maybe it was once a month but it seemed like EVERY Friday to me).  For some reason I could never remember the words you were supposed to say as an introduction or the prayers you were supposed to say.  I remember distinctly going into the haunting confessional box and stuttering and fumbling with the words and being told by the grouchy old priest to go back out and not come back in until I knew the words.  Well.....that was it, I was permanently traumatized.  This is aside from the fact that every Friday I had to come up with my list of sins and they sounded like a broken record to me; I lied, I disobeyed my parents, I was mean to my brother and sisters.....nothing too serious, after all, I was 7! 

As an adult, I know I should get over this.  I've talked to priests about my fear and trepidation over Confession.  One particularly kind priest friend heard my story and told me he would be happy to hear my Confession as we walked outside at a school retreat (I was an adult chaperone) and it didn't matter if I knew the right words or the right prayers, that he would say it all with me and it would be just fine.  What a kind man!  That should have cured me! 

I still find myself with what I consider a trite list of sins which makes me think I am in need of some serious self examination.  Believe me, it is not that I am so virtuous, probably the opposite.  I was thinking about this post and did a little research.  This site is eye opening and worth thinking about, I especially find the chart with the virtues and vices interesting, and the descriptions of the seven deadly sins is good self examination material.  It also makes me think if I do go to Confession tonight that I might be in there for a LONG time!  I need to change my focus and look at this as an opportunity to lighten the load and take it as the gift it is meant to be, instead of the torture I have made it to be all these years.  Maybe this post is just one small step towards that end.

A New Season

This past weekend we attended an all day retreat at our church.  The title of the retreat was Becoming Who You Are.  Don't worry I'm not going to tell you how to be who you are or how I am going to be who I am.  The retreat was a good one and an opportunity to think and reflect.  One of the talks I listened to was about the seasons in the Church, which brings me to today's topic......Lent.  Don't hang up yet....stick with me here, it's Lent.

Lent is the 40 days before Easter.  It is one of the seasons in the Church.  Did you know that Lent is 40 days long but the Easter season is 50 days long?  Did you think it was just one day?  Guess it makes giving something up for 40 days not so bad, if you are going to celebrate for 50 days afterwards.  Just a thought.

Are you giving up anything for Lent?  A question circulating all around this week.  I jokingly said this morning on Facebook that I was going to give up Charlie Sheen for Lent... anything written or spoken by him or about him and we would both win.  Now that I think about it more, it could be a great idea!  Why clutter my brain?  Thinking about things I've given up in the past is an interesting exercise.  There were a few times that I gave up drinking.  It was definitely a sacrifice especially since my significant other did not do the same.  I still remember one time when our pastor found out that I gave up drinking for Lent and he asked, "Why would anyone do that???"  Cracked me up! 

One year after the "give up drinking" years, I decided to be proactive for Lent.  I joined Weight Watchers for Lent.  I had always secretly wished whether I gave up drinking or gave up desserts, that at the end of Lent I would also be about 10 lbs. thinner.  It never happened, guess God did not think I needed to lose weight.  Anyway, one year "I" thought I needed to lose weight and joined WW for Lent.  I can do anything for 6 weeks, so that is what I did.  Now I digress, just hold this thought for a paragraph.

Today at Mass, our priest was talking about Lent and the 3 things we are asked to focus on; prayer, fasting and alms giving.  The fasting part was particularly interesting to me today.  Fasting is a sacrifice of the flesh.  It requires discipline.  There is temptation all around, believe me I know, as I did my grocery shopping today and found a free sample on every aisle that I had to walk past while I was trying to fast.  His point was that when we are fasting we are self disciplined and maybe during this process we become open to other things that might have gone unnoticed.  I like that.

Back to the year I joined WW.  What started out as a selfish venture ended up being a life changing experience.  I found that while being more disciplined about what I ate I was much more productive in the rest of my life.  I was also more disciplined in other areas and felt better.  What started out as a 40 day commitment ended up being my place of employment for the next 8 years.  By giving something up I opened myself to a life changing experience, God had plans for me and I found them by doing something for Lent.

I leave you with this thought.  If you are giving up something or doing something special for Lent, let yourself be open to the new opportunities you find by living a more disciplined life, it is not always a bad thing!