I'm giving up soda for Lent.

At the Ash Wednesday service I was at, the priest made a good point - Lent isn't just about sacraficing something we're used to, but making a sacrafice for others...I'm trying to think of a way I can help out more in a local charity, whether it be donating a bit of money or of my time...still trying to figure it out.

Collin

IMHO- Thats what the idea of sacrifice of lent SHOULD be about. I could get behind that. This world could use more of that. I just dont get the giving up pizza for 40 days = a closer relationship to god and a greater spirituality. But if it makes people happy, go for it..Its just not for me.

I just got to the point where I thought there was more of a sacrafice I could make than giving up something kinda trivial.

Now...I'm not exactly a solid Catholic, so we'll see how far I get with this....but I'm starting to re-think some things, which probably isn't a bad thing.

shoot... there goes my pledge to give up alcohol... i went out for beers last night with some friends. Oh well... I will stick to giving up caffine. I am not going for sainthood now.

But I donated about 3 bags of canned food to charity this weekend. There is a big philanthropy going on and there is a canned food drive involved. Hopefully it will go to the right place.

Today someone joked that I am going to hell because I don't go to church. Now I am afraid. I hope not. I'll go to church next week.

As for sacrifice, I think Lent is a time for reflection and good deeds and to avoid over indulgence. But then again I might be going to hell. :(

I'm Jewish, but a lot of my family is Catholic, so I know all about Lent.

When I was little, I used to joke that I was giving up homework for Lent. For some reason, that didn't go over too well with my parents... :p

I've been given to understand that the requirements for Lent were a lot more difficult pre-Vatican II. A couple of my Catholic relatives used to follow the old requirements even after Vatican II. This included the full Lenten fast, which was 2 small meals and 1 full meal every day (except Sundays, which are not actually counted as part of Lent), in addition to abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays (even Fridays not in Lent). Children, the elderly, and the sick didn't have to fast but still had to abstain from meat. Can any older Catholics corroborate this?

YAY! Nice to meet you! I'm an Episcopalian too. Roman Catholics aren't the only ones who give up things (including meat on Friday) for Lent ya'll . . . Episcopalians do too. This year I am giving up being anal retentive of the way other people clean. This may seem like a weird thing to give up, but I am the only one who cleans my apartment now because if anyone else attempts to help I wind up re-doing it because it wasn't 'clean enough'. So, this contributes to my sanity and not hurting other's feelings.

As a side note, the reason that Sunday's don't count towards the 40 days of Lent are that Sunday is a feast day in the church. Lent is a season of abstinence and introspection, but Sunday is seen as a celebration of the resurection (even if a bit more subdued). As a feast day, Sunday can not be a part of the 40 days of Lent. There was also actually a time when Roman Catholics did not ever eat meat on Friday, not just during Lent.

Edited to say that I can coroborate aephi alum's statements about Lent due to my mother taking MANY courses in church history and discussing this material with me.

AHHH! Edited again to say that I also try to increase my usual 10% tithe to around 15% during Lent.

I've broken my "Lent promise" if you will. Smokes a cigarette tonight (while drinking) and also have been cussing w/o even remembering I gave it up!!!! Ugh, this is super hard and makes me feel like isht!!

ha! I tried the same thing a few years back. And it was a horrible cycle because you'd curse and then curse for swearing. "oh shit I forget my text book. Oh FUCK I just swore."

This year I'm giving up sweets. Which is tough because I do love twizzlers but damn spring is almost here and I don't want this extra poundage hanging around.

I don't consider myself to be a strict Catholic. There was a time where I didn't go to confession for yrs. Finally something happened over this past spring that was extremely overwhelming and it made me go. I felt much better afterwards and finally was able to put that event behind me. I had some pretty crazy things to tell the priest.


These days I'm trying to be a better Catholic. I live in Florida and I love seafood. Thus, Fridays are no problem for me and meat. However, drinking wine and eating steamed Oysters on the 1/2 shell, along with a heafty Wahoo filet.....dinner can get expensive.


This yr for lent I gave up 2 things to make up for my unfaithfull years. The first thing was cookies! I love eating those little Keebler Elf fudge shoppe cookies, the shortbread cookies with fudge on them. Every night before I go to bed, like my dad, I have to have my cookies and milk.

The other thing I gave up was illegal pharmeceuticals, the ones I can get without a prescription. That means no Zanex, Vikaderm, Perkecet, Valium, Aderol, Ritalin, Morphine pills and the occasional 80mg---Oxycotin.

So far the first one has been the hardest to keep up. Mainly it's because of my late night craving for cookies. I'm not addicted to prescription pills, therefore, as long as I stay away from friends or chicks who do them.......I'll be ok. They are, however, something I am not used to going without.

That doesn't make you a bad catholic! That only makes them bad priests! ;)