the forty days of preparation before easter...reminiscent of jesus's forty days in the desert. in his 2006 lenten message, benedict xvi says, "lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him who is the fount of mercy."
a few weeks back, i decided on my lenten metanoia. giving up unhappy words. it's funny...since i shared my metanoia publicly, i have come to a deeper realization of how much my words impact everything around me. things from my attitude to the attitude of those around me, and the feelings of all those involved. not to mention the look on my papa's face when i drop a four-letter word around him. it's safe to say that it's not a happy look. :)
and i can't begin to count how many times i've been asked, "have you used up all your swear words yet?" after the day i had today, i think i have.
i am excited about this. during lent, it will really force me to choose my words wisely - to process struggles and frustrations on a spiritual level, as opposed to simply "venting" them out into the world. that will be a good challenge for me, a challenge i welcome.
please pray for me over the upcoming 40 days, and i'll keep you in mine.
and just in time for lent...a very cool day-by-day devotion is found over at ewtn, worth bookmarking. just click on the day! :)
finally, it wouldn't be fat tuesday without a smile...
John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill. Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper. This went on each Friday of Lent.
On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John. He was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn't take it anymore. They decided to try and convert John to Catholicism. They went over and talked to him. John decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic, which made them all very happy.
They took him to church, and the priest sprinkled some water over him, and said, "You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic."
The men were so relieved, now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.The next year's Lenten season rolled around. The first Friday of Lent came, and, just at supper time, when the neighborhood was settling down to their cold tuna fish dinner, the smell of steak cooking on a grill came wafting into their homes.
The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! WHAT WAS GOING ON?They called each other up and decided to meet over in John's yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent.
The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water. He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."
3 comments:
Tonight I stood over my dinner saying, "You were born with calories, you were raised with calories, and now you are calorie free."
i needed that! :)
and to think my super fabulous chicken became calorie-free too!!
Funny...I read this today and I had steak last night for dinner! HaHaHa...it was a good fish! LOL
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