The Mom Weekly Volume 29: February 13, 2024
Notes:
I actually had a “from the vault” all queued up for this week, but since I had a lot to write about this year’s Lent, I decided to move it until next week. Enjoy!
It’s Lent …. Again.
It’s my favorite time of the year, she said ironically.
Whenever it’s about to be Lent, I think, “Well, it’s Lent … again.” That is, along the lines of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (during the early days of his repeated days) saying, “Well, it’s Groundhog Day … again.”
(By the way, I created the above GIF–yay me!. It was my first time creating it, and took awhile to figure out, but now I know how.)
Lent starts tomorrow—yes, Valentine’s Day! And it’s a good idea to consider what you might do or “not” do for Lent. Some thoughts:
*Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, so no need to go to Mass! But feel free to go to Mass and get ashes, and count how many people try to let you know you have something on your forehead (wink). That’s what I will be doing.
*Read this to get the details on fasting requirements. Just remember that Ash Wednesday and all Fridays in Lent are meatless! It’s easy to forget.
*Sundays do not “count” in Lent. So if you gave up chocolate or beer, you could (but are certainly not required to) have some on Sunday. But if you give up something like complaining, it’s probably a good idea to keep it going on Sundays.
*One of the best sacrifices in recent years for me—bar none, honestly—during Lent is to go grayscale for some period of the day or week.
I think there were two Lents that I went grayscale for the entire Lent. But now, I just do grayscale for the first half of the day—until noon or 1 p.m., approximately. In some ways that is harder, because every day, you wake up to a gray phone, when you’ve had some phone color the day before.
Here’s how to go grayscale (for iOS; I imagine it’s similar for Android):
- On your device, go to Settings.
- In the search bar at the top, enter “Color Filters.”
- Click on “Color Filters” (it’s here: Accessibility>Display and Text Size>Color Filters)
- Toggle “Color Filters” to “on” and the default one is “grayscale.” (No, I don’t know what the other ones are for—colorblindness, maybe?)
I don’t consider myself to be too much on my phone all the time. And ScreenTime tells me I spend the majority of my phone time listening to podcasts (shocking, I know) and sending iMessages (if I had to guess, photos of the dogs—and when I say dogs, I mean Spot—to our family text chat.) But going grayscale is immediately effective in reminding me that it’s Lent, in giving me a sense of memento mori.
I can’t describe how much it affects me. If you’ve never tried it, may consider doing it for an hour or so, just so you know. But it’s not for everyone– I know some people who have tried and it doesn’t work well as a Lenten or any other kind of sacrifice. For me, it’s just … difficult. Therefore, a good ascetical practice for Lent. For me, at least!
Next week, I’ll share a reflection on Lent I wrote back in 2007, that I still think is relevant. Because it’s Lent … again.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Interesting/Notable
Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2024
For years, I made a point of reading the Holy Father’s Message for Lent. Then the Vatican website (still acting like it’s 1999) made it nigh impossible to find. But this year, a quick Google of The Holy Father’s Message for Lent 2024 turned it up. I have printed it out and hope to read it before Lent starts, or sometime during Lent.
In LA, Gardens of Healing help abuse survivors reconnect with the Church
“The garden is dedicated to victim-survivors of sexual abuse. It aims to be a safe space to offer some measure of peace and healing, as well as acknowledge the failures of the Church to prevent and adequately respond to abuse perpetrated by its priests, staff and volunteers.”
An action item: The Prayer of Saint Ephrem.
Consider adding the Prayer of Saint Ephrem to your phone, and praying it through Lent.
Dad reminded me that we like to pray this prayer during Lent. He recommended that a good practice could be to pray it in the morning and the evening—twice a day. Give it a try!
I created an image of the prayer you can save to your phone. Or you can make your own!
What are you doing this weekend?
So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
I was searching around for some meatless meals for Lent, and found this site– “The Plant Based Catholic.” I am bookmarking to look through for some interesting recipes.
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).