Happy Fat Tuesday!

This is my last long post…I promise I will shorten them up!


In celebration of fat Tuesday and the upcoming Lenten season I thought I would give you a little insight - well at least what I know - to the season and a brief overview to what the heck us Christians (specifically Catholic in my case) are doing. You see us eating tons on Tuesday, with dirt on our head Wednesday, attending a lot of fish dinners on Fridays and giving up our favorite snack/beverages for 40 days(post on this topic below)! Here is what is going on with us in a very general explanation…..


Fat Tuesday:
In short…..It's time to party it up, and ....eat. Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (see below). It is also known as Mardi Gras Day or Shrove Day. Traditionally, households consumed all the remaining foods that would be forbidden during Lent as the following day is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a long fasting period for Christians. Today (in most cases) in the church you really only fast on Ash Wednesday and Fridays; while also not eating meat on those specific days. However, tradition would be to fast and not indulge at all during the 40 days (excluding Sundays) and eat no meat at all during this time. So that is why on fat Tuesday you are suppose to eat, drink and be merry!!


Ash Wednesday:
Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Christian season of Lent and a sign of penitence. During Lent, Christians must fast and give up things they like. The Lenten season lasts for 40 days and is a period of spiritual discipline, fasting and moderation in preparation for Holy Week and Easter; one of the most important days of the church year.

On Ash Wednesday, Christians go to mass and receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross. Ashes are placed on our foreheads as a sign of the frailty and uncertainty of human life, and as a reminder of our need to repent. It also means from "Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust". That we came from dust and we shall return to dust, referring to our earthly bodies, not our souls.

Lent:
There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. Lent is the forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on Holy Thursday, with the beginning of the mass of the Lord's Supper.

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus' withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. The reason we are suppose to give something up (even though I am still in thought about this topic, post below) is b/c it is said that Jesus was tempted (or really tested) by demons and such during his time in the desert and he rejected each possibility. That is why we give something up…so we too test ourselves (why I think I should give up more than pop).

Holy Week:
This is too much to get in too, but basically this is the week we journey through the story of Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his betrayal, death and celebration of his resurrection with the First Eucharist of Easter.
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So there you go, a kinda brief & somewhat general introduction into the Lenten season! Sorry it is so long…..even though I do not believe in everything about religion and the church, this is the one thing I think is very very important for all of us to understand and practice! Not only is this why were are here, I think it does everyone good, religious or not, to take time to reflect on themselves and be without some of the luxuries we are so use too on a daily basis!


HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!