At my Grandparents house, Easter was THE big holiday. New clothes, big dinner, baskets of chocolate, church, stations of the cross, redemption....the whole deal. Now that I am older I understand why. Without Easter, there is no Christianity. They were devout Roman Catholics, as were the majority of Erie-ites at one time, and that is how it was.
Lent is somewhat fascinating to me. The 40 (or so) Days before Easter traditionally spent fasting that somehow got diluted into "sacrificing" luxuries or bad habits. I actually know a guy in his 50's who still gives up sweets every year for Lent. If St. Peter (or P-Siddy as I like to call him) is teetering when my friend is standing at the pearly gates, he may need to pull that candy card to weigh a certain decision in his favor.
Oh yeah, with lent comes the bad jokes as well:
"I am giving up Lent for Lent"
"I gave up procrastinating, but then I figured, maybe next year"
"I am giving up work for Lent"
and so on.....
Living in Pittsburgh, Lent means really big fish sandwiches on Friday.
If and How you celebrate it really depends on your beliefs, and I am not one to talk too much religion with anyone. I do fear that we are rapidly loosing our traditions though. I was talking with my mother the other day about Catholicism, and I said that if I ever do get back into organized religion, I would seriously consider Catholicism once again, as I like to root for the underdog. There is also something to all that tradition that is appealing to me.
What a self inflicted beating the Catholic Church has taken. Scandal after scandal, it becomes more obvious that the world has changed. Personal opinion: restraining from procreation is a dumb rule. Keep some traditions and bail on the ones that don't work. I am sure that will never happen, under the current Roman Pontiff, the Catholic Church is headed backwards and becoming more conservative.
The Catholic Church has held power of some sort and been around for a long time. Who knows, there may again come a time when Catholic Church is attended by the masses (no pun intended). Until then the parishioner numbers continue to dwindle, and that is not just a catholic problem. All I know is that a few miles away from my house, I can attend a concert at an old church, then walk down the road and shop for furniture at another, and afterward drive a mile to swill at the Church Brew Works. The city is littered with empty schools, churches and convents as the Catholic Dioceese and other religious groups continue to consolidate congregations. It's sad really.
Back to Lent. This year my family and I are taking Fat Tuesday pretty seriously as everybody is feeling fat. So 2012 Lent is a time of giving up some of the bad eating habits of the winter, which feels right to me, probably due to my catholic upbringing, or maybe just because I am getting fat... Either way it's all good.
