Lent - its an Irish thing, but it helps!

Hi Stu, I am going to enjoy my last Starbucks almond latte today as I am giving them up for Lent.

You're not alone... I'm giving up junk food - which I shouldn't be eating at all. Good luck, and PRAY!!!!

Hey!  It's not just an RC thing.  We Lutherans observe Lent as well.  I'm giving up all carbonated beverages.  Instead, I'm going to drink a lot of water and focus on the sacrifice God made for me.

Hawkeye you are a brave man...I don't think I could make it with out DC (diet coke). I'm giving up rice cakes...you know those little cheesy addictive ones, and all chips etc and candy...Hopefully that will help.

Edited by sue7013 2005-02-08 7:53 PM

I was a confirmed Episcopalian a while back. I never did understand the giving up thing in Lent. What's with that?

PS: I no longer consider myself an "Episcopalian" anymore; a "Christian" will do just fine.

Randy

Edited by Blacktoe 2005-02-08 9:55 PM

The idea is to strengthen the will. The soul has three functions, the intellect, the will and the emotions. The emotions want, intellect informs, but the will decides. Your emotions might say something like “I really like my friend’s new bike”. The intellect might inform “he would really appreciate the compliment if you tell him you like his bike” and “being envious can hurt your friendship. The will then decides what you actually do.

Resisting temptation can strengthen the will. But purposely placing yourself in temptation is wrong, so the idea behind giving up something for Lent is to strengthen the will by resisting something NOT sinful, so when tempted by something sinful, the will has the power to resist. It’s spiritual exercise.

Before the 1970’s, every RC who was 21 or older had to fast during the 40 days of Lent. My parents told me they could only have one main meal a day, and two smaller meals. The two smaller meals together could not total as much as the main meal. No snacking between meals. Meat could only be eaten at the main meal. Beverages could be taken at any time as long as they weren’t “substantial” like a milk shake or protein drink.

Fasting customs were different by country and century. In Europe, eggs and meat were not allowed at all during lent. The days between Christmas and Lent were called Carnival from the two latin words “carne” and “vale” which meant “goodbye meat”. When Easter came, they would celebrate by coloring their stockpile of eggs, that they could now eat.

Parents used to encourage children to “give up” something for Lent to prepare them for when they became an adult and had to fast. I think Catholics are still required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent, but many choose to continue the custom of giving up something for Lent.

The purpose is two-fold:

First, by giving something up ("sacrificing", it helps me to focus each day on the sacrifice that Jesus made for me.  If He can give His life for me, I can certainly give up carbonated beverages (to include beer...eeek!) for 40 days.  The little sacrifice I make each day helps me to remember the big sacrifice that was made for me all those years ago.

Second, some will take those resources that the "sacrificed" activity takes up (e.g. the time from T.V., the money from no sweets, etc.) and do something positive with it.  There are those who will give $120 to their favorite charity because they gave up their $3/ day cappucino habit or others will read books instead of TV.  Others will just make it a point to be more positive and friendly during this time.  All of this is done in an effort to live the Gospel.

Whether someone participates in these things or not is completely up to them and doesn't effect their relationship with God.  To some, it seems strange that these things would be done for 40 days only; why not all the time?  Great question.  But, as with any habit, it takes a time to start it and some time to practice it.  For many, these 40 days become the seed bed that produces healthier life-long habits.

All right - I'm giving up regular soda and here's the big one..Cheese. Being from Wisconsin this is like giving up oxygen. I've made it the first 8 hours and still holding strong.

Good points Hawkeye.

The 40 days is an imitation of the 40 days of fasting that Jesus did before starting his public ministry.

17 hours without chocolate/cake/cookies & my first run was torture. I'm going to suppliment with High5 energy bars etc. & help ease the system crash. I have only just realised how much junk I eat (while staying away from "junk foods").

I think if we challenge & support each other we can do the 40 days, and maybe improve our training habits for the post-Lent time.
Stu

I think the point of "giving up" for lent is to emulate Jesus. He spent 40 days in the desert, before the whole debacle. Not to mention what he eventually gave up at the end of the first lent. So I guess if you say you're not eating m & m"s for lent you really should "count" Sundays. BTW I don't give up ANYTHING. ;-)

Cathy,
I think you've just done your first good deed of Lent - I never knew about the Sunday thing! Thank you, one day of each week where I can go to the cinema & eat peanut M&M's.
Stu

To COGirl: I recently heard about the "free sunday" from my wife's family, as long as you attend church or mass. I personally think it defeats the purpose. But whatever you do to keep your faith going is important, its very personal, so I don't judge...

Sundays don't count.

http://www.kiskipby.org/resource/archives/lenteaster.htm

Hmph!  I didn't know about Sundays either.  Guess you learn something new everyday.  Personally, I carry on through the Sundays as well.

I always thought that the "Sundays don't count" was somethng my wife's family made up so that they could eat popcorn once a week...they are addicted to it..and they make it the right way - on a gas stove in oil with lots of butter. I personally try not to indulge on Sundays either...

A proest friend recenlty told my family that very thing, that you can "break lent" on Sundays. The RC church doesn't bring it up often, but you can indulge on your given up items on Sunday...it is after all a day of rest.

I was brought up RC and was always told Sundays didn't count and ends at non on holy Saturday. But I have a great lent storyToday we were bringing in luch for our office staff so they show me the menu of the place we were ordering from and aside form a salad or a fried fish sandwich (yuck) there is nothing with out meat on it this being Ash wednesday and supposed to fast and not eat meat I didn't order anthing. So my nurse say "What kind of diet are you on now" I said the catholic diet...no meat on ash weds etc.....it was really funny. Tkae care everyone

Hey Guys,

Very interesting. I grew up in a church that observed Ash Wednesday and Lent. I am now going to another church, very Bible based, but don't observe Lent. We did have a great sermon on the importance of fasting, a very powerful and spiritual thing to do. It may sound aweful, but with the amount of training I do, I don't think a full fast would be good physically for me right now.

It is nice to talk about God in a open forum.

God Bless,


Randy

Hi everyone,

I appreciate the discussion & will go with not breaking Lent (great help to lowering body fat%) on Sundays. I'll throw one more question into the ring, I'm Irish & living in a small village outside Dublin - do I get to break Lent on St Patrick's Day (our national holiday for those not in the know)?

Talk soon,
Stu

Randy--

Quite simply, fasting is going without something in order to focus your spirit on God.  Only half of fasting is "giving something up."  The other part of it thinking about the importance of your faith when you reach for that item (food, remote control, etc.).  The big part of fasting is the focus.  Why is one going without food?  If one does it for health reasons, it's called a diet.  If one does it on a quest for spiritual enlightenment, it's a fast.  May seem somewhat simplistic and all-inclusive, but that's what's at the core of ascetism: denial of self to focus on God. 

That being said, what most of us are doing right now could be "fasting."  I watch what I eat in order to improve my health and honor the gift that God has given me in my body.  In a way, that's fasting.  I turn off the TV and get off my behind to improve this life that God has given me.  In a way, that, too, is fasting.  Fasting is denial of the self in an effort to honor God.

So, keep up the "fasting" so that your race times will get faster!

An oldie but goodie (just for you Stu):


An Irishman walks into a pub and orders three pints of Guiness. He puts them on a table and sits down at the first one and drinks it. Then he sits in the second chair and drinks the second pint. Finally he moves to the third chair and downs the last pint.

He does this every evening.

The bartender is curious and asks him why he does this ritual.

The Irishman explains “I have two brothers, and one moved to America and the other to Australia. We always used to share a drink and this is my way of honoring them and the good times we had.”

One day the Irishman orders only two pints of Guiness.

The bartender says sympathetically “I’m sorry about your brother”.

“What do ya mean?” the Irishman asks.

“I’m sorry about your brother passing on.”

“Both my brothers are in perfect health.” He replies.

“Then why did you only order two beers?”

“Oh that,” says the Irishman, “I gave up drinking for Lent.

I'm giving up Diet Coke. I already have a headache today from the lack of caffine.

Hang in there everyone!