“What are you giving up for Lent?”

Over the years I’ve had more than one non-Catholic friend (or Catholics who don’t practice) ask me that question. Some of them do it with considerable eye-rolling, others asked it as a sincere way to practice a spirituality they find valuable.

I prefer the question “How are you observing Lent?” because adjusting our reliance on things is one way to create a new spiritual discipline. I haven’t made my final decision about how I’ll observe Lent, but whatever I do, I want it to be a sacrifice for me and a benefit to the earth. I read a reflection recently that suggested putting a box in a corner of the house and every day of Lent, putting something in the box that can be donated at the end of the season.
I like to think of myself as someone who lives simply so filling a box with an item a day for forty days might involve some sacrifice.
And isn’t that what this is all about?

Catholics of a certain age remember when we abstained from meat EVERY Friday, not just Fridays during Lent (and Ash Wednesday, of course). If you’d like to try reducing the amount of meat you eat on days other than Friday, your parish Care of Creation Team is in your corner. Go to mqhr.org/creation,
scroll down and you’ll find a PDF of a vegetarian cookbook that the committee compiled last summer. I guarantee that you’ll find at least two or three recipes that you’ll want to try in order to increase your meatless meals during Lent (aside from MQ Fish Fry, of course!).

Raising animals makes a huge contribution toward climate change. More agricultural land is used to raise cattle than all other domesticated animals and crops combined. A vegetarian diet requires two-and-a-half times less the amount of land needed to grow food, compared to a meat-based diet.
Decreasing the amount of meat you eat during Lent is a great way to care for God’s creation, one of the church’s seven social teachings.
The Laudato Si Commission of the Diocese of Lexington is planning Appalachian Immersion Pilgrimages for 2024. The AIE is intended to ignite desire and to confront complacency and inertia concerning
deafness toward the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” The Laudato Si Commission and the diocesan office of Peace and Justice have created an experience for people who are interested in the Gospel call to peace and justice of the Gospel and Pope Francis’ proclamation to care for all of creation.

The dates for 2024 are June 9-12; Aug. 23-25; and Oct. 6-9. For more information about AIPs, contact Peggy Gabriel, [email protected]
Have a blessed Lent!