Lent
- Thread starter Redman97
- Start date
Honest question from a Luthern. All you Catholics give up pop or Facebook or whatever. Wouldn't this effort be better spent giving up something more meaningful? Something that makes you a better catholic.?
Ive always wondered this
Ive always wondered this
Well it is suppose to be a sacrifice and it really depends on the person. If you think you spend too much time on facebook and choose to limit yourself, couldn't that help you be a better person/Catholic? I don't drink much pop so giving it up wouldn't be much of a sacrifice. One could always choose to do more of something like praying, doing some community service, going to confession, or donating more money.
And don't try celebrating his sons birthday at the completely wrong time, that really grinds his gears.
Right, I just figured most of the people who participate in lent aren't just holiday Catholics. Would make more sense if they chose to give up something meaningful.
We do Trek Up The Tower in Omaha every year and its only 40 floors. 92 sounds insane! Sounds like a good cause though, and sub 20 minutes would be a great time I assume. Good luck!
I do this too! Love my rum. I used to go run on the treadmill after work on Fridays and then drink however many calories I worked off. If it was a big party night, I'd do like 1000 calories.
You mean the chreasters? Yeah it would more sense, but the sad fact is that more Catholics attend an Ash Wednesday mass than all of the holy days with the exception of Christmas.
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Going to read a spiritual work in the morning (writings of St. John Cassian) and apply his wisdom to my life. I've discovered that starting off the day with prayer or self reflection (after imbibing coffee of course), can have large impact on the direction of the rest of the day. Sadly I've neglected this practice for a long time to my own detriment.
Then listen to some sermons or such when I go to sleep.
Then listen to some sermons or such when I go to sleep.
I've found starting the day off with the drink in your login ID rather than coffee...also can have a large impact on the direction of the rest of the day.
:wink:
First, it is not required of any Catholic to give up anything during Lent. Lent is simply a season where we are encouraged to take time to better reflect upon Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. Each person is able to develop (or not develop) their own Lenten plans - nothing is forced.
That said, the Church provides some helpful guidelines to give some structure to your plans...
The three pillars of Lent are:
1. Prayer
2. Fasting
3. Almsgiving
Using these pillars as a framework can help you develop an enriching Lenten season.
For instance, my prayer component is to start going to our prayer chapel for 5-10 minutes every morning before heading out to work. Fasting, which can be viewed as sacrifice, will be reading a spiritual book for a half hour in the evenings (thus, sacrificing my TV time). My form of almsgiving will be volunteering at the family shelter once or twice a week, a payment of my time.My hope is that I will begin to develop a closer devotion to God by making myself more aware of Him during the week.
So, I guess to answer your question, yes, there are other things to do rather than just give up pop and they will make you a better Catholic. But, unless you put a little thought and effort into it, Lent will probably be nothing more than a 6 week weight loss program.
Wow, there's actually something more to Catholicism than just ridiculous traditions to laugh at!
The way it was always explained to me is that we have lent to remind ourselves of the time that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Therefore, you give up something you enjoy in order to remind yourself of Jesus fasting in the desert. I try to give up something meaningful, but that explains giving up pop.
There were four country churches in a small Texas town: The Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church and the Catholic Church. Each church was overrun with pesky squirrels.
One day, the Presbyterian Church called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels. After much prayer and consideration they determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.
In the Baptist Church the squirrels had taken up habitation in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a cover on the baptistery and drown the squirrels in it. The squirrels escaped somehow and there were twice as many there the next week.
The Methodist Church got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation. So, they humanely trapped the Squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of town. Three days later, the squirrels were back.
But -- The Catholic Church came up with the best and most effective solution. They baptized the squirrels and registered them as members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas and Easter
