MARDI GRAS!!!!! Happy Fat Tuesday my Friends! Do we still call it that? After two years of comorbidities and knowing that obesity is a possible invitation to a more difficult encounter with the VID can we call it Fat Tuesday? How about Shrove Tuesday? Time to go to Confession before the season of Lent! And then go again during Lent! Tis the Season to be sorry! Actually celebrated well, the Sacrament is a tremendous gift for Disciples. Get to shriving!!!! BUT, BUT, BUT the best name for today is Pancake Tuesday!
Feast today for the long fast begins tomorrow, well it does for those trying to celebrate an observant Lenten Season. For many more people it is just a time to travel around on Friday's to discover their favorite fish fry. It has been my tradition to take the staff out for pancakes or whatever type of breakfast food they want to enjoy. We typically go to Bob Evans or IHOP. I tend to enjoy waffles more than pancakes, I don't why pancakes seem to sit so much more heavier than a waffle. Aren't they basically the same things? Anyways, it has been a fun tradition for decades for me since I was a young pup of a priest.
Some people prefer booze and boobs, so there is that tradition most commonly experienced in New Orleans and other locations where booze and parades are the norm. Apparently the boozing, parading and flashing of the boobs can begin as early as the day after Epiphany and carry on to the day before Ash Wednesday. Given the variance of the lunar cycle after the first day of Spring, some Mardi Gar seasons can last a long time like this year and others can be so short the hungover won't believe it ended to abruptly. For those outside the realms of Cath-O-land, Lent can begin as early as the 4th of February, (Only 42 days after Christmas?!?!) or as late the 10th of March. Blame it on the moon!
However you choose to celebrate Tuesday, I hope it is enjoyable for you. For my friends at Rubin Report, Phetasy and Triggernometry know that I will be missing my morning visits to you communities as well as the times I drop in for visits during the course of the day. I will still be semi-active at Padre's with the Coffee Talks and some Lenten posts, but a lot less visiting and exploring of the inter-webs. April 24th will be here before we know it. šPart of my daily prayers are for the people I meet in my daily meanderings in real life and on-line. Many of you, your situations and loved ones have been entrusted to the Divine. I have so enjoyed my visits on Locals since 2019 and have certainly appreciated the 4 communities which I visit daily. Until April, take care and know of my love and appreciation.
A couple of prayer-prose here before I take a break from many of my daily habits.
Ugly people,
dirty people,
ignorant people,
stupid people,
weak people.
Arrogant people,
selfish people,
pompous people,
smug people,
too-clever-by-half people.
There are so many people
we can despise
or envy
or even hate
and feel quite justified.
Lord, we have put up our defenses
and you are going to need
all your ingenuity
all your patience
and all your skill
to break through our castle walls;
and when you have
weāll make a last ditch stand
and fight to the death
to prove to you
that we have been right all along.
But meanwhile, Lord,
please win a few of the skirmishes.
Prevail on us to reach out,
however timidly,
to touch the untouchable.
Entice us
by some means
to come out from behind our barricades
and expose ourselves to danger,
as you came, in Christ
from behind the barricades of heaven
to be among us,
vulnerable,
the object of prejudice
and cruelty.
Let love break in
and steal our prize possession,
pride,
and crush our fear
with confidence.
Let it be so, Lord,
for Jesusā sake.
Alan Gaunt, 1935ā
This is our povertyā
that we do not belong to each other
nor serve one another.
We go each his own way
and do not care for our neighbor.
We pray thee, O Lord
redeem us from this estrangement.
Redeem us out of this loneliness.
Deliver us from the sin that divides us.
Join us closely in True Love.
The Church in Germany
Harcourt, Melville. Short Prayers for the Long Day .- Giles Harcourt
One of my favorite memes for a chuckle as we say good bye to Alleluias for the next 46 days! Laissez le bon temps rouler! At least for one more day.
