Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Lent is a time of sacrifice for Jesus. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
According to the Canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.
I don't claim to be the best Catholic around, but over the past few years, I have renewed my relationship with God and have begun to embrace more of my faith. Each year, I struggle with the decision of what to give up for Lent. This year, the decision was even more difficult because normally I give up Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and then donate the money I would have used on the coffee to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Seeing I have only had 5 DD iced coffees since January 1st, I didn't think that would be much of a sacrifice.
I thought about giving up soda...but for those of you who know me, that would have been UGLY! I am addicted to caffeine! I didn't want to give something up just for the sake of doing so, I wanted it to benefit me in some way. I decided I would give up eating meat for Lent. I am not a huge meat eater, but I do eat chicken at least 5 times a week and I have been going to brunch almost every weekend which of course has to include bacon or sausages. Giving up meet will allow my body to "clense", it will force me to be more creative with the ways I utilize vegetables and more creative with finding good protein sources.
I have a few friends who have been sending me vegetarian recipes, but if you have any I would love to see them! Forty days is a VERY long time to go without meat, but they say it takes about 21 days to change a bad habit or create a new one, so...........I will give it my best effort and who knows what may come of it at the end of Lent.
Last year, giving up DD did nothing! I was so excited to find that Nassau, Bahamas had a DD. When my friend Julie and debarked the cruise ship and arrived in Nassau, I literally bumped into a woman who was holding a DD bag.....I said (out loud) THANK GOD! It may have been one of the best Easter's I have ever had! (right next to the trip to St. Petersburg in 2006 to a new ballpark and a visit with an old college friend).
