Author Topic: Happy Fat Tuesday! Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow........... (Read 1743 times)

Neil Obstat · « **on:** March 04, 2014, 06:24:47 AM »

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Happy Fat Tuesday!

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow...........

The party's over!!

(I.e., they just finished the Academy Awards barely on time, and Girl Scout Cookies are ON SALE, just in time for Lent, AS PER USUAL.)

Does anyone have any stories about Mardi Gras in France or in French colonies?

Or............ what are you giving up for Lent? (What do you want to talk about?)

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jen51 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2014, 07:23:51 AM »

Huh. I've never realized that girls out cookies start selling right before lent. An astute observation, Neil! I've ate 2 girls scout cookies so far, that's probably all I'll do.

As for what I'm eating tonight.... Steak and ice cream, because I'm foregoing meat and dairy. Bye bye hamburgers, hello green smoothies!!

Dolores · « **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2014, 08:17:20 AM »

I'm not sure how it started, but we typically order a bunch of Chinese food for dinner on Shrove Tuesday.

Traditionalmom · « **Reply #3 on:** March 04, 2014, 03:26:44 PM »

Giving up meat, alcohol, sweets-baked stuff/junk food, gonna focus on reading St. John Vianney, St. Thomas More, and St. Frances de Sales.

Nadir · « **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2014, 03:51:15 PM »

I'm giving up my late-night bowl of muesli. It's gunna be hard!

Stubborn · « **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2014, 03:56:22 PM »

I have one more Paczki to go - a strawberry one - will have that before bed, then that's it for deserts for a while!

For those who don't know what a paczki is - help yourself while you can.........

May your Lent be fruitful!

stgobnait · « **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2014, 04:37:08 PM »

mmmmmmmmmmm :)

Frances · « **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2014, 07:51:31 PM »

:ready-to-eat:
Just finished off my last NY diner cheeseburger deluxe! Unlike Nadir, I will be eating healthful cereal, "Ezekiel" without fruit or nuts. One woman's luxury is another's penance.

Nadir · « **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2014, 07:54:14 PM »

Quote from: Frances

:ready-to-eat:
Unlike Nadir, I will be eating healthful cereal, "Ezekiel" without fruit or nuts.

Sounds kosher! :kick-can:

Frances · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2014, 08:40:50 PM »

:dancing-banana:
Actually, I think the company was founded by a couple of Protestants. It might be marked kosher--for conservative and reformed only! In which case the orthodox and hasidim won't touch it! It's basically tasteless muesli high in plant protein. Really good for you which means it tastes bad!

Neil Obstat · « **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2014, 09:07:26 PM »

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Quote

Really good for you which means it tastes bad!

Good for you

Tastes bad

Good for Lent

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Marlelar · « **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2014, 10:22:18 PM »

from Father McKenna:

Quote

Whatever sacrifices we make, we must always keep in mind the way a Catholic should do penance. We must be balanced in our approach. We should challenge ourselves and push ourselves to do a little extra. It should be a sacrifice. But we must also not bite off more than we can chew. One of the most important parts of our Lenten mortification must be the ability to persevere through the entire season and if we take on too much, then human nature will all too often cause us not to cut back a little, but rather fall away from almost all the sacrifices together. Then we are back to doing just the minimum or, God forbid, no sacrifice at all. It would be better to offer a little and persevere than to offer a lot and fail to complete our Lent.

link

Marsha

Nadir · « **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2014, 12:07:08 AM »

That's why I only declared my intention to give up my delicious and comforting bowl of muesli!

Matthew · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2014, 12:13:12 AM »

Quote from: Marlelar

from Father McKenna:
Quote
Whatever sacrifices we make, we must always keep in mind the way a Catholic should do penance. We must be balanced in our approach. We should challenge ourselves and push ourselves to do a little extra. It should be a sacrifice. But we must also not bite off more than we can chew. One of the most important parts of our Lenten mortification must be the ability to persevere through the entire season and if we take on too much, then human nature will all too often cause us not to cut back a little, but rather fall away from almost all the sacrifices together. Then we are back to doing just the minimum or, God forbid, no sacrifice at all. It would be better to offer a little and persevere than to offer a lot and fail to complete our Lent.
link

Marsha

My thoughts as well.

Neil Obstat · « **Reply #14 on:** March 06, 2014, 06:15:57 PM »

Quote from: Matthew

Quote from: Marlelar
from Father McKenna:
Quote
Whatever sacrifices we make, we must always keep in mind the way a Catholic should do penance. We must be balanced in our approach. We should challenge ourselves and push ourselves to do a little extra. It should be a sacrifice. But we must also not bite off more than we can chew. One of the most important parts of our Lenten mortification must be the ability to persevere through the entire season and if we take on too much, then human nature will all too often cause us not to cut back a little, but rather fall away from almost all the sacrifices together. Then we are back to doing just the minimum or, God forbid, no sacrifice at all. It would be better to offer a little and persevere than to offer a lot and fail to complete our Lent.
link

Marsha

My thoughts as well.

While I don't disagree, and the advice of Fr. McKenna is good, there are some who would take that to mean they shouldn't try to do any more than they know they can handle. How many do you know who would see, "But we must also not bite off more than we can chew," and that is all they'll remember! That becomes their take-away message, and the summary of the whole thing. IOW, forget the rest of it!

But it seems to me that the most important words are, "We should challenge ourselves and push ourselves to do a little extra. It should be a sacrifice."

To that, I might add that "A man's reach should exceed his grasp." Because if you don't try to achieve something a little beyond what you know you can do, you're not going to improve. And it is by challenging ourselves to do a little extra that we will find that we really CAN do more than we thought we could previously. It is by practicing this diligent reach for higher and better that we can eventually become saints.

There are no saints who were content with the status quo, and who did not keep trying to improve their virtues and their holiness, and this is intimately related to the practice of mortification, self-denial, and voluntary expiation.

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