season
What Did You Give Up For Lent?
You’re out with your friends on a Friday night and suddenly you notice that one of them has switched from his favorite microbrew beer to lemonade? Is it time for Lent already?
Giving up something for Lent sometimes evokes head-scratching in non-Catholics, but what might seem like just another Catholic eccentricity can actually be a practice with deep spiritual significance.
Lent, the period of 40 days that precedes the celebration of Easter, has its origin in the early days of the Church. This year Lent began on March 5th and it ends on April 17th.
Converts seeking to become Christian, who at that time were mostly adults, spent several years in study and preparation. Under the threat of Roman persecution, becoming a Christian was serious business, so their process of preparation was intensive. Then they went through a final period of “purification and enlightenment” for the 40 days before their baptism at Easter. The rest of the Church began to observe the season of Lent in solidarity with these newest Christians. It became an opportunity for all Christians to recall and renew the commitment of their baptism. Continue reading
My Anti-Aging Secret
Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner. And, many of us are doing what we can to look our best for the upcoming summer events. Some of us are dieting frantically. Some of us are buying tanning packages or laying in the sun in the back yard trying to get that perfect tan to go with the new summer outfits. Some of us are getting laser treatments to remove unwanted hair. Some of us are getting our hair highlighted.
I admit, I am guilty of indulging in one or two of the above mentioned beauty and lifestyle techniques. But, I have one carefully guarded secret that I plan to share with the world today.
Quite often, I am met with disbelief and astonishment when I tell people how old I am. I am 41 yrs old. And, I am told that I look no older than 32. I’ve heard “twenty something” but, that is just pushing it. I am a mother of four and also grandmother. And, I honestly don’t have the time or money for expensive skin and hair treatments. Continue reading
Just Let it Go
Can you imagine how wretched you would feel if you kept trying to wear a pair of shoes at age 30 that fit you when you were 6? The pain would be unimaginable, excruciating and intense. You would cripple yourself and in all likelihood be unable to walk, be unable to move.
But you wouldn’t do that, right? That doesn’t make any sense, you say. Well, of course it doesn’t make any sense. And of course you’d never try to do that, because they wouldn’t fit you anymore!
At certain times in our lives it becomes really important to acknowledge that something or someone just doesn’t fit us anymore.
Is a person any different from a pair of shoes in this context? Of course not. Yet so often we keep on trying to make a person fit into our lives. We bend ourselves out of shape, trying so hard to make this person fit, when in fact their time, just like the old pair of shoes, has by now long come and gone. Continue reading