Wednesday, February 25, 2004
happy ash wednesday
the first thing my mom told me this morning was, "it's ash wednesday. it's one full meal only today." today is the first day of lent and a day of fasting and abstinence. that means we fast (not eat) and abstain from meat (not eat meat). my mom told me "one full meal today" because the church doesn't call for us to starve and faint and not be able to function. just sacrifice what you normally have and feel the absence of something we take for granted.
cicely asked during last bible study what we're giving up during for lent. there was a nice discussion of why we give something up. a comment i made was that it's not like when we were little kids and we just give up chocolate or candy. some people back in college would even give up rice. goodness, now that's a sacrifice. but the point i made is that instead of giving something up, i try to do something extra, like going to church every day. someone else said that she is going to sacrifice eating out all the time and donate that money she saves to a charity-also a very nice idea. and someone else pointed out that this lenten period isn't just to give something up for 40 days, but to do something to improve your relationship with Christ even after the 40 days-so maybe to continue to sacrifice or focus more on Him.
but what's the point of the sacrifice? as good as my additional prayers at daily mass will be, and dana's contribution to charity, i think there is still worth in sacrificing for lent. and even the whole fasting and abstinence thing. first of all, it imitates Christ, which is the ultimate goal of our lives. when He sacrificed in the desert for 40 days and nights without any food or water and being constantly tempted by the devil, His humanity was extremely tested. in sacrificing food for one day, it's only a small way that we can be more like Him. also, i think it's to remind us of what we have in Him, realize our hunger-both of physical nourishment and spiritual, and celebrate the fulfillment of that hunger when Easter arrives. as we feel physical hunger for food, it's a reminder of what life would be like without the Bread of Life. and when Easter comes, it's a wonderful celebration with our family, full of food and abundance, just like the abundance that we receive upon Jesus' resurrection and His gift of everlasting love and life to us!
so today, yes, fast and abstain from meat. but more importantly, reflect about why you do this and pray about it. and do it, not because of obligation to an institution's rules, but because you want to be close to Him and know how empty life would be without Him. and do it joyfully!
cicely asked during last bible study what we're giving up during for lent. there was a nice discussion of why we give something up. a comment i made was that it's not like when we were little kids and we just give up chocolate or candy. some people back in college would even give up rice. goodness, now that's a sacrifice. but the point i made is that instead of giving something up, i try to do something extra, like going to church every day. someone else said that she is going to sacrifice eating out all the time and donate that money she saves to a charity-also a very nice idea. and someone else pointed out that this lenten period isn't just to give something up for 40 days, but to do something to improve your relationship with Christ even after the 40 days-so maybe to continue to sacrifice or focus more on Him.
but what's the point of the sacrifice? as good as my additional prayers at daily mass will be, and dana's contribution to charity, i think there is still worth in sacrificing for lent. and even the whole fasting and abstinence thing. first of all, it imitates Christ, which is the ultimate goal of our lives. when He sacrificed in the desert for 40 days and nights without any food or water and being constantly tempted by the devil, His humanity was extremely tested. in sacrificing food for one day, it's only a small way that we can be more like Him. also, i think it's to remind us of what we have in Him, realize our hunger-both of physical nourishment and spiritual, and celebrate the fulfillment of that hunger when Easter arrives. as we feel physical hunger for food, it's a reminder of what life would be like without the Bread of Life. and when Easter comes, it's a wonderful celebration with our family, full of food and abundance, just like the abundance that we receive upon Jesus' resurrection and His gift of everlasting love and life to us!
so today, yes, fast and abstain from meat. but more importantly, reflect about why you do this and pray about it. and do it, not because of obligation to an institution's rules, but because you want to be close to Him and know how empty life would be without Him. and do it joyfully!
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quotable quotes
-
"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the
greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks
nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, live, and love."
~unknown
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"live a life that others will remember years from now, NOT because it pointed to you but because of how it pointed to the One who made you."
~ Mark Hart, the Bible Geek
"we grow up learning to become self-reliant, but really we need to be God-reliant"
"we could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box"
"never wound hearts that love u, never give them the endless pain, because wounded hearts are like roses that never bloom"
"there comes a time when we have to stop loving someone not because that person has stopped loving us but because we have found out that they'd be happier if we'd let go"
