7 Starting Lent Quick Takes

1. As a New Orleanian, the Southern Baron firmly believes that revelry beforehand is a key part of preparing for Lent. One day we'll make it back to the Crescent City for Mardi Gras, but for now we hosted a party for church friends with lots of jambalaya.
   
2. Fat Tuesday ended up being a date night near Times Square. We celebrated junk food by eating dinner at Shake Shack and then killing time at the M&Ms store. At this three story temple to American sugar consumption you can get candies in every color decorated with personalized stamps, or buy everything from t-shirts to baking equipment. But no Jedi candy dispensers - they only carry Empire characters. 



If there's not enough candy for you,
you can go to their rival Hershey across the street. 

3. Then we saw Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart in Waiting for Godot, which turned out to be perfect for the night before Lent. The bare set was focused on an almost-dead tree, and we both loved catching all the crucifixion references. One of my favorite parts was at the beginning when the two leads debate the different Gospel narratives about the two thieves who died alongside Jesus. "One of the thieves was saved...It's a reasonable percentage."





View from the cheap seats. 

4. On Ash Wednesday we went to 7am Mass before work and got our #ashtags. This is mine after a full day of work. Every year this makes me realize how much I touch my face during the day.
   
   
   
   
5. I love how commuting into the city makes Ash Wednesday such a public holy day. The pastor of the Episcopal church in our town was giving out ashes at the train station. When I asked if I could take her picture, she said "Sure! Only if you take one with my phone too!" Then I told her about my vestment research, and she informed me her current purple chasuble was from Peru.
   
   
   
   
6. There were two other men in my office wearing ashes, and I only had three awkward "There's something on your face" conversations with strangers. My favorite was the young guy in my elevator on the way home. He gave me a concerned stare, and then shot a reproachful look to everyone else in the car.
   Kid: "Really? None of y'all gonna tell her? That she's got stuff on her face?"
   UPS Lady (rolls eyes): "C'mon, it's Ash Wednesday."
   Kid: "Oh, thank goodness. I was worried she ran into a chimney or something!"
   
7. One of my goals for Lent is to read more books and to review more Bible movies. On Tuesday our parish's young adult group is going to see Son of God. I will be sure to report back. In the meantime, here's my first post on Jesus movies if you're looking for some Lent viewing. 

Visit Jen at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Ashes and Hope

It doesn't really feel like Ash Wednesday. Here in NOVA it's a balmy 60 degrees and the sun is shining. Despite the high Catholic population of my office, I'm the only one sporting a forehead smudge since everyone is planning on evening Mass. Finally, there are some exciting new developments in my personal life, which I shall elaborate on a less solemn occasion.

On the other hand, today feels awfully penitential. I'm tired, hungry, and bothered with all sorts of temptations to be anxious, bitter, discouraged, and worried. Can I call it "spiritual warfare"? Because that's what it feels like. The past 24 hours have been a battle. God has blessed me, but "the world, the flesh, and the devil" are trying to take away my joy. There's a reason "Counsel the doubtful" is a spiritual work of mercy; that nasty stuff doesn't go away easily.

Learning to really trust God through this uncertainty is one of my goals this Lent. I'm sure He and I will have some very forthright talks on my silent Ignatian retreat in two weekends. (I'm both excited and terrified. Anybody have advice about preparing for one of these things?) I'm also going to work on some spiritual reading I've been meaning to do.

Other than that, here's the formal "What am I doing for Lent" list

• No sweets or secular TV (a family tradition.) This means it's time to review a bunch more Jesus movies. 
• Attending daily Mass once a week
• Praying the Rosary every day during my commute
• Sending out at least one job application a week - if I want God to help my future, I better do something about it. 

What are you giving up this year? How do you build trust in God?

...and so Lent is off and running

I'm in the library at 11pm trying to finish another thesis chapter. My brain refuses to cooperate. But that's nothing compared to other news.

A family friend is rapidly dying of stomach cancer, bravely resigned to the will of God.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia just suspended 21 priests due to sexual abuse cases against them.

Frailty, death, and sin just keep happening.But it will be all right in the end.

And so Lent begins

I was born on an Ash Wednesday, and the day often feels more like a new beginning than my actual birthday. It's really the most refreshing holy day - it forces you to stop what you are doing and really assess the type of person you want to be. I'm all bogged down in mid-semester busy times, feeling like my life is getting out of control and wondering if I am doing anything right at all when BAM - here comes Ash Wednesday to remind me that there is a spiritual reality beyond today. That there are things more important than creature comforts and the luxury of cable tv. That nobody is perfect - in fact, we do bad things sometimes. That God is merciful, and that there is joy beyond suffering. That God made us "to know, love, and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next." All He wants is for us to offer Him ourselves with all our confusion, weakness, and unhappiness.

My resolution for Lent is generally to be more mindful of these things. I won't keep the TV on mindlessly in the background; in fact, I won't watch Glee or Pretty Little Liars at all. I won't read so many fashion or pop culture blogs. I'll go to two daily Masses a week. I'll read more spiritual books.I'm actually a little excited to de-tox from the world. (The Beau shares my enthusiasm for Lenten self-improvement, just reason #457129 why I love him.)

Goodness knows I need fewer distractions right now. After getting ashes on my forehead, I'm spending the day with embroidered vestment motifs, and then art of colonial Spain, and then Hudson River Valley paintings. I'm awfully fond of the purple and black vestments in my thesis right now.

How about you? Do you like Ash Wednesday or dread it? What are you giving up this year?

Spiritual food, at home and abroad

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone. I really do like this day, and not just because it falls near my birthday or because it's fun to see people get confused by the smudge on your forehead. Today is a day that reminds us of what is truly important, and urges us to leave the safe bubble of our personal mistakes and desires. This Lent I decided to join the crowd giving up Facebook. I'd realized that constantly monitoring acquaintances' lives was making me feel badly about my own. I think my life will be happier and less cluttered without it. Going to at least two weekday Masses is another Lent resolution that I think will help me be more content with the life God has given me.

Last April I attended my first Latin Mass according to the 1962 Missal, and I was less than pleased with it. I walked away feeling frustrated, ignorant, and ignored. I also was determined to figure out this "living history" of my Faith. If the Saints of past generations worshiped this way, I needed to learn how to do so too.

By happy accident, London gave me the chance to do so. The Brompton Oratory (next door to Vicky and Al's!) seemed like a convenient Sunday location, and the 9am Low Mass was the only one that fit my schedule. So I went, navigating the Tube alone for the first time. It was a lovely morning.
It was a lovely Mass too. Knowing what to expect this time helped. Throwing Novus Ordo sensibilities to the wind, I reveled in the priest's whispered Latin and reverently silent congregation. The stillness and mystery was such a nice break from our constantly hectic touring. I didn't need to analyze, think, take notes, or even fully listen. I just needed to be there. And by some spiritual force, my existence was tied up with that of my pew mates and all pew mates from the beginning of time. And most mystical of all, our presence was woven into that of God Himself.

It's true, the focus of the Tridentine Mass is not on "community" or "participation," which are good things too. The theme of Medieval/Renaissance liturgy is"son, you better recognize." Recognize that God is right there! In front of you! Looking like bread! Isn't that amazing?

That is something worth recognizing and appreciating. Like the Incarnation it reflects, the Eucharist is a mystery. We can try to wrap our brains around it and probe its meaning, but there will always be new things to understand. There is more than one liturgical way of approaching it. God will always find ways to surprise us. So I've decided that witnessing that mystery a few more times a week would be a good way to spend my Lent.