Why during lent we give something up that we really love and then on sunday we can have it? What the point of that? -Matthew Marzorati
Matt - thanks for the question, even though we are in Easter it is important to know why we as Catholics do the crazy things we do. Lent is the liturgical season when we seek a deeper conversion in our relationship to the Lord. In Lent we focus on turning away from sin and turning towards the Gospel. To do that we take something we like (TV, internet, texting, video games etc.) and we give that up for the Lenten season. In doing that we offer a sacrifice, meaning we do away with something we like to show that we love God above everything else in our life - even more then TV, internet and texting - i know its crazy but we should love God more then those things. By giving up something we like, we detach ourselves from material things in order to focus on higher, heavenly, things. On Sunday's we can use the thing we gave up in Lent b/c Sunday is a Solemnity and typically we don't fast on Solemnities. It's funny once you give something up you really want and long for whatever it is that you gave which makes the sacrifice all the greater. God works in mysterious ways. Victimae Paschali... Fr. Jakub