{"id":408,"date":"2011-03-10T01:46:28","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T01:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buckroth.wordpress.com\/?p=392"},"modified":"2011-03-10T01:46:28","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T01:46:28","slug":"lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"LENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What is this – “L – E – N – T?”\u00a0\u00a0 What is the use of “it<\/em>?”\u00a0 What is its purpose<\/em>?<\/p>\n

As a ‘cradle’ Roman Catholic, meaning that I was born into and brought up as a Roman Catholic person, dictates of this religion were and remain ever-present.\u00a0 They are not bad things by any means.\u00a0 They are fundamentally Christian.\u00a0 Christianity is a good thing, right?\u00a0\u00a0 I have always held it as a fact in good standing, at least for myself.<\/p>\n

As I choose to observe\u00a0“Ash Wednesday,” strangers always ask me to explain what this is: what is the purpose of having a thumb print of literal ashes placed upon my forehead?\u00a0 This day, Ash Wednesday,\u00a0 March 9, 2011, sightings of thousands upon thousands of people will now label themselves as Catholics due to this mark, this brand, in honor of \u00a0Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Father.\u00a0 Furthermore, this essay will attempt to clarify Ash Wednesday and answer your similar question\/inquiry.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0goodness in mind, the dictionary definition of Lent, as a noun, is: “the period of forty weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter [Sunday] observed in Christian Churches [and homes] through fasting and penitence to commemorate Jesus’ fasting\u00a0in the wilderness.”\u00a0* \u00a0Catholic masses are scheduled\u00a0each year to celebrate this holy opportunity as a reminder of Jesus’ life<\/strong>.\u00a0 Before I get too far, let me share with you that a ‘Mass’ is “the celebration or service of the Eucharist, <\/em>a sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church, consisting of a series of prayers and ceremonies.”\u00a0*<\/p>\n

“What’s a sacrament?” you ask.\u00a0“What is the Eucharist?” \u00a0I’ll let you look those\u00a0up on your own!<\/p>\n

Back to the topic of Lent, this Catholic observance <\/em><\/strong>“prepares the faithful to celebrate the mystery of Jesus Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection.\u00a0 It is a time for reflection and spiritual renewal<\/strong>, a time to examine one’s relationship(s) with God and with others, other humans<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Church also calls Catholics to a spirit of penance, above all to practice the “Acts of Religion”: fasting, prayer and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to\u00a0oneself, to God, and to others.”**\u00a0 Overall, it is a reminder to be good, to be Christian-like, to keep your soul clean in order to go to heaven, just as simple as that!<\/p>\n

My foundations for this religious belief among so so many others, have become\u00a0easily understood – respected –\u00a0since my infancy and upbringing.\u00a0\u00a0 This is comfortable for me with its familiarity, helping me to discern right from wrong, good from evil.\u00a0 And the concept is maintained\u00a0for at least ninety days out of any year: Ash Wednesday to that last day of Easter.<\/p>\n

The ash print on the forehead?\u00a0 That’s a reminder to each of us that we will die, that we will die as Christians, that we are good people and have striven to follow in the example of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of Mankind, the Redeemer, the Lord of Man, etcetera, etcetera.<\/p>\n

I hope this essay helps discern your quandary.\u00a0 The attached photo display pertains to the Roman Catholic Calendar.\u00a0 Hopefully this will help you to further understand certain observances and Holy Days.<\/p>\n

Happy Easter!\u00a0 A. K. Buckroth www.mydiabeticsoul.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is this – “L – E – N – T?”\u00a0\u00a0 What is the use of “it?”\u00a0 What is its purpose? As a ‘cradle’ Roman Catholic, meaning that I was born into and brought up as a Roman Catholic person, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}