Update on Lent: It Still Starts Tomorrow!
Sinners, start your penances!
OK. That's probably the only NASCAR-ish joke you'll ever see on this blog.
So I mentioned to the maternal unit that I was giving up sarcasm for Lent this year, and she FREAKED. "It's the only thing I like about you!" she wailed. (Well, not really, but pretty close. It was one of her favorite things about me, was what she actually said.) She plead her case - she's moving out of town at the end of March, and "needs" my sense of humor for these next weeks.
Darn it, I thought. She ruins everything! I come up with the PERFECT penance for me (well, OK, it was actually The Clam's idea - she says I bogarted it from her) and Mom says I can't do it. This is JUST LIKE when she said I couldn't be a Catholic when I was 5. HAH! I'll show her!
Ahem. So anyway. I emailed my own, personal canon lawyer with the conundrum (does that pesky commandment about honoring parents outweigh the fact that this is such a great penance for me?) and he replied. Here's his response:
"How about this – as a suggestion – you allow yourself free license with your sarcastic wit when you’re around your mother, but try and keep track and, at the end of the day, say one Hail Mary for each sarcastic comment you’ve made. I’m borrowing that suggestion from an old monastic practice - if meat was forbidden but a guest came and desired meat for dinner, he would be served meat, and, to make him more comfortable, the rest of the community would eat meat as well. Then, when the guest left, the community would do penance for eating meat, even though it was done with the right intentions."
Sounds like a plan, Stan!
OK. That's probably the only NASCAR-ish joke you'll ever see on this blog.
So I mentioned to the maternal unit that I was giving up sarcasm for Lent this year, and she FREAKED. "It's the only thing I like about you!" she wailed. (Well, not really, but pretty close. It was one of her favorite things about me, was what she actually said.) She plead her case - she's moving out of town at the end of March, and "needs" my sense of humor for these next weeks.
Darn it, I thought. She ruins everything! I come up with the PERFECT penance for me (well, OK, it was actually The Clam's idea - she says I bogarted it from her) and Mom says I can't do it. This is JUST LIKE when she said I couldn't be a Catholic when I was 5. HAH! I'll show her!
Ahem. So anyway. I emailed my own, personal canon lawyer with the conundrum (does that pesky commandment about honoring parents outweigh the fact that this is such a great penance for me?) and he replied. Here's his response:
"How about this – as a suggestion – you allow yourself free license with your sarcastic wit when you’re around your mother, but try and keep track and, at the end of the day, say one Hail Mary for each sarcastic comment you’ve made. I’m borrowing that suggestion from an old monastic practice - if meat was forbidden but a guest came and desired meat for dinner, he would be served meat, and, to make him more comfortable, the rest of the community would eat meat as well. Then, when the guest left, the community would do penance for eating meat, even though it was done with the right intentions."
Sounds like a plan, Stan!
posted by The Big Seester | 12:38 PM
2 Comments:
Well, your wit is one of my most AND least favorite things about you. I love it, as long as it isn't directed at me. :-p
And I think the suggestion is a good one, though is one Hail Mary per incident really sufficient penance? What about one Divine Mercy chaplet per incident? Otherwise you're getting off pretty light... ;-)
Nonono. The idea is that I can let the sarcasm fly while with Mom, so she doesn't miss it. If I have to do a whole DM chaplet with every comment, I won't open my mouth.
What Tim is talking about isn't an accidental screw up, it's an intentional exception for the benefit of someone else...
TBS
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