This Lent I will give up Liver and Onions and Chewing Tobacco

You need to give something up for Lent.  As Catholics, that’s what we're told all our lives.  But exactly why do we do this?  Sure, giving up chocolate, sweets, soft drinks and other guilty pleasures can teach us about sacrifice, but won’t most of us take these back up at the end of Lent?  I can’t even begin to guess how many times I’ve given up things.  As a wife and mother I’m always giving up my time and making sacrifices for my family.  During my pregnancies, which obviously were longer than Lent, I had to give up alcohol and certain types of foods. Currently I'm training for a marathon so I have to pay extra attention to the types of foods I’m eating and have to cut out activities that keep me from getting enough sleep.  Therefore, to me, giving things up for Lent seems to be the easy way out.   

Lent should be about conversion, about turning my life closer to Jesus. I think that I would be missing a great opportunity to grow in Christ if I gave something up for Lent just to be grumpy and miserable the entire time. Yes, I’ll be giving something up for Lent.  I’ll be giving up liver and onions, chewing tobacco and tortilla chips. Okay, I’m kidding about the liver and onions (I’ve never eaten that) and the chewing tobacco (I’ll be grumpy, just kidding, I don’t use tobacco in any form) but I am serious about the tortilla chips.  Anyone that knows me well knows that I can’t go one day without eating tortilla chips.  

“Yikes! We’re all out of food!”

Now, I will qualify that one by saying that if I find that this makes me uncommonly grumpy, I will abort this endeavor.  Of course, since Sundays are not officially considered part of Lent, I could always choose to eat my fill of tortillas every Sunday (Woo Hoo!).

In all seriousness, this Lent I will make a special effort to more fully focus on the three pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.  But for me, fasting is the hardest of these three.  Pray for me!

Are We Praying Now or Talking About the Weather?

We start our school day with a family Rosary.  Now praying the Rosary can be a challenge with children, especially boys, but try to picture a Rosary in a house with boys that have ADHD, Tourette syndrome and Asperger syndrome.  It can get to be a challenge to stay focused and finish the Rosary.  Well, I found that watching a recording of EWTN’s Holy Land Rosary with Father Mitch Pacwa helps us to stay focused and keeps the Rosary going even with distractions.  Since today was Friday, we were praying the Sorrowful Mysteries.

This is how it went today:

“In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.  I believe in God the Father Almighty…”

“Hey, look, it’s snowing outside,” Bubba notices.

“Focus, we’re praying,” I say.

Continuing with Father Pacwa  “…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary…”

“But, Mom, look it’s snowing and it’s above freezing.  See, the snow is wet and…”

“Are we praying now or talking about the weather?”  I ask.  The boys start laughing, but we’re able to continue pretty well until we get to the second sorrowful mystery, the Scourging at the Pillar.

“Here we are standing outside the church of the Flagellation,” says Father Pacwa.  The boys start laughing.  Okay, it’s not as if they haven’t been watching this program now for years.

“Ha, ha, he said flatulation,” says Googie.

“No, he said flagellation, I heard flagellation,” insists Bubba.

“Kids,” I begin.

“Baaa,” interrupts Bubba.

“Focus,” I demand, “Have some reverence. We’re praying!” 

Somehow, with God’s help, we were able to finish the Rosary.  And the day had just started.

Thy Feet Are Cold

Okay, I have to write about this. The kids and I begin our school day with a Rosary. Also, I'm known for feeling cold all the time. The kids laugh at me all the time because I walk around the house with my "I'm freezing" jacket on and hat on my head. Sometimes I'm so cold that I even have to wear winter gloves and jump around doing jumping jacks and running in place to warm up. Well, the other day we were sitting on the sofa in the living room praying the Rosary. Googie was in one side of me (to keep me warm) and Bubba was sitting next to me on the other side. Bubba kept putting his cold feet really close to me, and I kept telling him (over and over) to not put his feet next to me because they were cold. It got to where he just kept doing it and finally, as I was praying the Lord's Prayer I started: "Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name. " Then pushing Bubba's feet from me I said, "Thy feet are cold." Boy we coudn't stop laughing for at least 10 minutes. Ever since, when we sit down to pray the Rosary, Googie starts laughing uncontrollably.

Praying the Rosary and Laminating Holy Cards

Oh Joy!

The other day our homeschool group had a prayer group for moms. We had so much fun getting together and being silly. It wasn't until I started explaining to Hubby what we were doing that I realized how ridiculous it sounded, "Yeah, honey. We had a blast last night at the homeschooling prayer group meeting. We prayed the rosary and couldn't stop laughing because of the fun we were having. Then the teenagers went to the other room to practice singing religious songs while the moms sat in the family room laminating holy cards. Yeah, we all sat around staring at the laminator and going, 'Oooh, that is sooo cool, I need one of those.' And we weren't even drinking." Anyways, Hubby just gave me a weird look and commented on how I needed to get out more (which is what I thought I had been doing at that meeting) and Bubba just couldn't stop laughing and kept asking me about the laminating machine.

Prayer

This is a Prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems Prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, Everyone was expecting the usual generalities, But this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from Every sin and set us free.

Amen!"

Favorite Day

Sunday is my favorite day. Not only do I get to sleep in until 8:00 a.m., we also go to church. Some quotes from today's Scripture readings: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whon the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges."

Also: "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."