Now that Ash Wednesday has passed, the world\u2019s 1 billion or more Roman\u00a0Catholics have entered the season of Lent.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time for a short test.<\/p>\n
During this holy season of penitence and reflection, America\u2019s 62 million\u00a0Catholics are required to:<\/p>\n
(a) Go to confession.<\/p>\n
(b) Abstain from meat and fast by eating only one full meal on Fridays.<\/p>\n
(c) Pray and meditate on biblical accounts of the suffering and death of\u00a0Jesus, including attending weekly Stations of the Cross rites or an extra\u00a0Mass.<\/p>\n
(d) Increase their efforts to help the needy through volunteer work and\u00a0donations.<\/p>\n
(e) Make a unique personal sacrifice, such as giving up sweets, coffee,\u00a0soap operas or SportsCenter on ESPN.<\/p>\n
(e) All of the above or some combination of the above, depending on the\u00a0conscience of the individual Catholic.<\/p>\n
(f) None of the above.<\/p>\n
Yes, this is a trick question and the key is the phrase \u201crequired to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modern Catholic leaders have steered away from dogmatic pronouncements\u00a0about practical details in the spiritual lives of the faithful. The end\u00a0result is that Catholics are gently encouraged to practice many spiritual\u00a0disciplines during the Lenten season, including all of the above and\u00a0more. However, they are required to do few things in particular and\u00a0millions of Catholics ignore those regulations, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the reality? The reality is that most Catholics do not think\u00a0much about the meaning of Lent,\u201d said Father William H. Stetson, director\u00a0of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., only a few blocks\u00a0from the White House. \u201cMost Catholics have little or no idea what they\u2019re\u00a0supposed to be doing during this season, although they all want to go get\u00a0ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lenten traditions have changed dramatically through the centuries, with\u00a0some form of pre-Easter fast beginning in the early church. This evolved\u00a0into a penitential season of 40 days, a number rich in biblical symbolism\u2013 including the 40 days of prayer and fasting that Jesus spent in the\u00a0wilderness.<\/p>\n
For centuries, Roman Catholics observed a strict fast in which they ate\u00a0only one meal a day, with no meat or fish allowed. Over time, regulations\u00a0were softened to allow small amounts of food at two other times during\u00a0the day.<\/p>\n
Today, Catholics are asked to observe the strict fast and abstain from\u00a0meat on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent and Good Friday at the\u00a0end. They are urged to avoid meat on Fridays in Lent, but the U.S.\u00a0Catholic bishops now allow other acts of penance to substitute for this.<\/p>\n
These Lenten regulations are usually published in parish newsletters and\u00a0explained by priests during services.<\/p>\n
According to canon law, noted Stetson, Catholics are supposed to take\u00a0Holy Communion at least once a year, a tradition that millions of church\u00a0members have grown up hearing described as their \u201cEaster duty.\u201d The\u00a0assumption is that this would require Catholics to go to confession\u00a0during Lent before fulfilling that duty.<\/p>\n
However, few priests and bishops would assume that to be true in American\u00a0pews today. In the mid-1980s, a University of Notre Dame study found that\u00a026 percent of active Catholics never go to confession at all and another\u00a035 percent may go once a year. No one believes that those numbers are\u00a0rising.<\/p>\n
This points to a problem, said Stetson, a problem larger than any\u00a0confusion that exists about the myriad layers of church laws, regulations\u00a0and traditions that govern the holy season of Lent in America and the\u00a0rest of the Catholic world.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem, he said, is that so many Catholics no longer think\u00a0of themselves as sinners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are all kinds of actions that the church teaches are seriously\u00a0sinful that the typical modern Catholic no longer believes are seriously\u00a0sinful,\u201d said Stetson, who, as a 75-year-old priest, has seen many\u00a0changes sweep through the Church of Rome. \u201cTherefore, these typical\u00a0Catholics walk up to the altar week after week to receive Communion\u00a0without a single thought entering their minds about repentance or\u00a0confession or anything like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you have to take that into account when you talk about Lent. In a\u00a0penitential season you are supposed to feel real sorrow for your sins,\u00a0which can be hard to do if you really do not think that you\u2019re sinning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now that Ash Wednesday has passed, the world\u2019s 1 billion or more Roman\u00a0Catholics have entered the season of Lent. It\u2019s time for a short test. During this holy season of penitence and reflection, America\u2019s 62 million\u00a0Catholics are required to: (a) Go to confession. (b) Abstain from meat and fast by eating only one full meal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[260,352,503,751,818],"class_list":["post-1376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-confession","tag-fasting","tag-lent","tag-roman-catholicism","tag-spiritual-disciplines"],"yoast_head":"\n