Ash Wednesday Musings
Why is it that I am more hungry on Ash Wednesday (and Good Friday as well) than any other day of the year? I mean, on any other normal day I can be fine going without breakfast. But yesterday, my stomach was screaming at me by 9:30 a.m. And why is it that you crave foods you don't even like? I'm OK with Taco Bell, but it's not my fave. Yet passing by TB yesterday while running errands made me salivate and whimper. For dinner last night we had a plain tuna sandich, and I have never loved tuna so much in my life.
Speaking of tuna, my husband asked me to put little chunks of celery in the tuna mix last night. I said we shouldn't because it was Ash Wednesday. He said, "Come on! It's the only thing we are eating all day! It's not like I'm asking you to layer it with Hershey's chocolate!" So, I put the celery in, but still think we should have gone without. What do you all think?
My daughter is a beautiful 4 year old, and at Mass yesterday as we are in line to receive our ashes asks in a loud kid-voice, "Are we going to go up and get a rash on our forehead?"
One thing about Ash Wednesday; make sure that you eat all your food from the Fat Tuesday celebration beforehand. Nothing defines "the occasion of sin" more than two boxes of Chinese leftovers, a half a bag of Hershey's miniatures, and 2 extra Hostess donuts flashing themselves at you in your kitchen first thing in the morning.
For my kids, I read them the story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. My 5 year old son made his image of satan very clear when I asked him what he thought of the story. He said, "So when the devil drives up to us on the street and says, 'come here come here! get into my car! ' we should run away so he won't kidnap us and make us sin. And if he grabs us we should scream and yell and kick and bite, whatever we have to to get away." Well, I was glad to know I have prepared my children to face the world of potential molesters and kidnappers. Hopefully when he is 16 he will feel similar sentiments about the devil disguised as a pretty young girl scantily clad on prom night.
So when explaining Lent to my kids, they of course were obsessed with the idea of giving things up. Their first suggestions were, of course, to give up "setting the table" or "cleaning their toys", but have now moved to the level of "not messing up mommy and daddy's games" and "picking out my own clothes for school". Well, it's a start.
And to end it off with another of my daughter's quotes from our Lenten discussion yesterday: "I didn't want Jesus to make me. I wanted Mary to make me because she's a girl."
I'm really looking forward to breakfast now. Gotta love the day after Ash Wednesday. Makes all foods taste better.
Speaking of tuna, my husband asked me to put little chunks of celery in the tuna mix last night. I said we shouldn't because it was Ash Wednesday. He said, "Come on! It's the only thing we are eating all day! It's not like I'm asking you to layer it with Hershey's chocolate!" So, I put the celery in, but still think we should have gone without. What do you all think?
My daughter is a beautiful 4 year old, and at Mass yesterday as we are in line to receive our ashes asks in a loud kid-voice, "Are we going to go up and get a rash on our forehead?"
One thing about Ash Wednesday; make sure that you eat all your food from the Fat Tuesday celebration beforehand. Nothing defines "the occasion of sin" more than two boxes of Chinese leftovers, a half a bag of Hershey's miniatures, and 2 extra Hostess donuts flashing themselves at you in your kitchen first thing in the morning.
For my kids, I read them the story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. My 5 year old son made his image of satan very clear when I asked him what he thought of the story. He said, "So when the devil drives up to us on the street and says, 'come here come here! get into my car! ' we should run away so he won't kidnap us and make us sin. And if he grabs us we should scream and yell and kick and bite, whatever we have to to get away." Well, I was glad to know I have prepared my children to face the world of potential molesters and kidnappers. Hopefully when he is 16 he will feel similar sentiments about the devil disguised as a pretty young girl scantily clad on prom night.
So when explaining Lent to my kids, they of course were obsessed with the idea of giving things up. Their first suggestions were, of course, to give up "setting the table" or "cleaning their toys", but have now moved to the level of "not messing up mommy and daddy's games" and "picking out my own clothes for school". Well, it's a start.
And to end it off with another of my daughter's quotes from our Lenten discussion yesterday: "I didn't want Jesus to make me. I wanted Mary to make me because she's a girl."
I'm really looking forward to breakfast now. Gotta love the day after Ash Wednesday. Makes all foods taste better.
posted by Philothea Rose at
1:29 AM
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