During the season of Lent this year, I am on a mission to get parishioners to come to the Stations of the Cross, and have had wonderful results. Last year, we offered the Stations once each Friday during Lent, and maybe had 20 to 30 people attend. This year, we offer it twice in English and once in Spanish each Friday. The last two in the evening have Benediction right afterwards. We have had between 175 and 200 parishioners attending this year - fantastic response!
I am reading a book this Lent entitled: Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World. I was struck by one of the paragraphs I read today: Abstinences, atonement, fasting, and penance lay at the core of Christian belief; from the earliest times fish had a special association with such practices. The traditional fasting days were Fridays during Lent, when Christians atoned for the suffering of Christ on the cross. As Christianity spread across Europe and religious communities proliferated, so did the number of holy days. By the 13th century, fast days took up more than half the year."
Wow - fast days taking up more than have the year! It makes us think about what we are giving up for Lent, especially in this society of abundance that we live in. How are we recognizing fasting during this Lent season? Are we giving up those things that keep us from God? Are we uniting with the suffering that Jesus endured on his journey to the cross? Gives us a lot to think about, doesn't it?
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