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In my native country we do not give up anything for Lent, so why is it so important to give up something like candies, sodas, or whatever?
Isn't the season of Lent about forgiving and living like Jesus did?
Am I wrong?
I am a bit confused here and need some help.
Maria
{
Why is it so key to give up something for Lent like candies seeing we don't do this in my country? }
Eric replied:
Maria,
Giving something up for Lent is strictly a cultural custom. There is no official discipline about it, except insofar as we do not eat meat on Fridays during Lent and Ash Wednesday, and we fast on one meal, and, if needed, two smaller snacks, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
The fasting regimen required for Lent used to be much stricter; it was abstaining from meat for all days of Lent and fasting almost every day. I suspect the custom of giving something up for Lent arose as a way for people to voluntarily show their love for God rather than being compelled to fast and abstain under pain of mortal sin.
Giving something up is a form of ascesis, that is, disciplining the body to help reign in the passions, or disordered appetites. See 1 Corinthians 9:24–27.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; 27 but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."
Because of our fallen nature, our desires easily get out of control, which inclines us to sin. By exercising discipline, like an athlete, we gain control over our bodies and make it our slaves, thus increasing our power over sin and reducing the chances of displeasing the Lord and losing the prize of eternal life.
IV. Christian Holiness.
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2015 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. (cf. 2 Timothy 4) Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:
He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.
II. The Precepts Of The Church.
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2043 The fourth precept (You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church) ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.
The fifth precept (You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability.
(cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 222; Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium canon 25; Furthermore, episcopal conferences can establish other ecclesiastical precepts for their own territories (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 455))
The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his own abilities. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 222)
Eric
Eric followed-up later:
Hi, Maria —
I forgot to address your point about living as Jesus did.
We can't live as Jesus did if we are enslaved to sin. We can't escape sin if we are slaves to our passions. We can't escape slavery to our passions until we engage, with God's grace, in ascesis (self-denial) and mortification (putting to death the desires of the flesh).
Even Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days (the length of Lent; see Matthew 4:2). If Jesus had to fast, you and I have to fast, too (See Matthew 9:15, Matthew 6:16-18).
Giving something up for Lent is just an alternative, popular way to fast.
Eric
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