Lent 2024 - The Pope says....

What now?

Well, I woke up this morning not in the best of spirits. But being the last Sunday before Lent, I did my usual morning mass, which by the way, I love to attend.

Warning to Non-Catholics:- Turn away now, or you will regret reading this :-) Seeing as how you get so repulsed by the utterance of some words we Catholics love to use... But let me boldly state that I don't mind at all.

I got a nice WhatsApp message, which I ignored early in the day. The message from the parish church group had a lovely smiling Pope Francis with this message attached - ❤️ "Eat whatever you want for Easter, the sacrifice is not in the stomach, but in the heart. They refrain from eating meat, but don't talk to their siblings or relatives, don't visit their parents or bother them to attend to them. Don't share food with the needy, forbid children to see their father, forbid grandparents to see their grandchildren, criticise other people's lives, beat their wives, etc. A good barbeque or beef stew won't make you a bad person, just like a fish fillet won't turn you into a saint. Better seek to have a deeper relationship with God through better treatment of others 🙏🏻 Let's be less arrogant and more humble at heart. ❤️ ✝️Pope Francis ✝️

Nice one, right... We get forwarded messages like this all the time. Circulating for years but claiming to be 'just out.' I have not fact-checked whether this was a recently conveyed message or not because it did not matter. A thought-provoking message and one that was not badly intended.

Later in the day, speaking to a friend, I discussed how difficult it is for me to fast or turn vegetarian being a hardcore non-vegetarian. And she immediately blurts out, 'Didn't you hear the latest message from Pope Francis?' And she happily went on to tell me the gist of the message. She memorised the important parts, summarising the whole message in one line. Not realising, that was the same message I received earlier, I listened quietly. During the conversation, she once again quoted a part of that message, to which I blurted out, "Look, I don't care what Pope Francis says (No disrespect intended to him or anyone), I want to do it." I was indeed shocked at my own words. I later read the message I had earlier received and started to ponder about what I said and my journey.

Back in school, we never bothered about fasting. The stage later, the next 20 years was a time I would not even think of it. Yes. The occasional Good Friday or Ash Wednesday was all I felt obligated to do. Then suddenly it all changed. I witnessed people and the miracles that touched their lives and felt I needed to get in on that. So there was my selfish reason for my fasting at that time. I will not deny that my life has had so many miracles that today I think back and feel so grateful for. But today, there is a choice from the higher-up (as we would say it) in the faith and all I could think of is, "I need to do this sacrifice and know that even if it helps a soul, living or dead, I will be so happy." Definitely a far cry from where I was to where I am today, but I feel so at peace doing this.

I have been ridiculed by my friends, especially in recent years. They seem to see a whole different person in me and maybe it makes them uncomfortable. I want to say something back at times and I do laugh with them at times just to find a bit of humour in the situation. But I know deep down now I am going to do this with all the love I have hoping that someone somewhere benefits by it.

My pre-lent routine is often one where I find myself doing all sorts of pre-checks. First, I have a few good lunches or dinners with select friends (I reserve a day for each friend) where we spend time and eat our favourite foods. I do not attend the Carnival festivities, because it is too crowded, hot and as I have always said it is not at all like it used to be.

Refer to my article written some years ago - https://chrisrosamarie.wixsite.com/website/post/adieus-king-momo

Secondly, I empty my fridge. A stocked fridge for me is the biggest temptation. My struggle with overeating and being overweight is a testament to that. I do not know till now what I want to give up, but I will take it one day at a time. Like I told a friend recently, everything I like I will try and avoid. I do not want to fall into the category of people who need an excuse not to do something and read a message like the one above and use it as a ticket to subtly step back with a tattoo on their forehead that reads, "Pope Francis said..."

All I can say is do what you feel you can or should. I am sure Pope Francis has his reasons for saying what he did and he was not wrong. According to me, he is a leader who is trying to steer his people in a direction that makes more sense in today's world. Getting the younger population to understand the basic 'rights and wrongs' rather than enforcing a rule that will slowly become a burden and will push them away from the church. That's not what anyone wants.

One thing I used to do in the past was look for answers online and calculate days. So this is something I read years ago and did not pay attention till a time when I saw a family feasting on a Sunday during Lent and said that Sunday is a non-fast day. For example, this year, Ash Wednesday begins on the 14th of Feb (Valentine's Day---Boom!) and Holy Saturday falls on the 30th of March, which makes it 46 days. So if you remove the six non-fast Sundays (18th, 25th Feb, 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th March), we get the 40 fasting days which we often refer to. I cannot tell you how happy it felt to have found that out earlier, but now it makes no difference.

What we fail to realise is that it is not all about the physical fast, but it is about your spiritual journey and how close you want to be with God and follow him close behind on His steps to Calvary, where he gave up everything for all of us. What can we give up for Him?

Whatever you choose to do --- 'You embrace your Lent wholeheartedly, and I will embrace mine.'