(or
simply Mardi Gras
— Fat Tuesday
— for Pagans)
|
Jesus
said:
“For
judgment
I am
come
into
this
world;
that
they
who
see
not,
may
see;
and
they
who
see,
may
become
blind.”
(Saint
John
9.39)
|
The Acceptable
Sacrifice:
Fast from
Sin this
Lent
Shrove
Tuesday
is the day preceding the
beginning of the Holy Season
of Lent.
We do not hear much about
Shrove Tuesday here in the
America — or, for that matter,
elsewhere. We do not know
what “shrove” means,
nor do we understand its
significance any longer.
It has effectively left
the lexicon of the Post
Vatican II Church, together
with the Sacrament of Penance
which fell into disrepute
when the notion of sin was
very practically abolished.
It really is a word we wish
to avoid because we wish
to avoid our acknowledgement
of sin. “The word shrove
is the past tense of the
English verb shrive,
which means to obtain absolution
for one’s sins by way of
confession and doing penance.”
1
For many it is Mardi
Gras, literally, “Fat
Tuesday”, the day in which
to indulge every imaginable
excess in preparation for
the lean days of Lent, as
though being surfeit with
sensuality will somehow
indemnify us against the
ravages of moderation. It
is a queer notion.
The entire purpose of Lent
is discipline — and we prepare
for it by abandoning all
discipline before its inauguration.
We reason that we will be
the better prepared to engage
in moderation by practicing
immoderation, to acquire
discipline by first abandoning
it.
Most of us will “give
up” unnecessary or frivolous
things to which we have
no inordinate attachment
to begin with ... and in
three days time revert to
them. It is not unlike our
New Year Resolutions, only
less ... well ... resolute.
Today we will prepare to
amend our lives tomorrow,
and we will do the former
with greater vigor than
the latter.
If there is a single metaphor
for our attitude toward
sanctity and death, it is
Shrove Tuesday.
Playing in the shadows,
we close our eyes and mock
the night. And when we open
them we do not know if we
have become blind or blundered
into darkness. We have done
all three: pretended blindness,
mocked the night, and fallen
into darkness.
“Tomorrow ... yes, tomorrow
I will pretend I am blind
to the darkness of this
world, but today I
will not feign blindness,
but will pretend to see
as a preparation for pretending
to be blind ...”
Even as the shadows lengthen,
we do not understand this
prelude to final things.
Fast from sin this Lent
... not from reason. It
is an acceptable sacrifice.
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
Printable PDF Version
Comments? Write us:
editor@boston-catholic-journal.com
_________________________________
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday
