Apricot pastry bites

I think it's been about 10 years since I "gave up" anything for Lent, but this year I did think I could be sugar free. About 2 weeks after Ash Wednesday I was sort of hankering for something sweet, and a friend brought over a wonderful pie. I resisted (mostly, except for a sliver). But then I made a pastry bite--I like pies more than cookies or cake. I made the crust, cut it out with grandma's pastry cutter, and after baking it, I put a dollop of "Simply Fruit" jam on it. Tasted pretty good. Next time I'll make the crust thicker and maybe larger (comes in a set of 3) because I make a flaky crust, and it was hard to handle. Notice from the photo I had to eat a few to make sure they were OK. Apricot.

 

Lenten goals--cleaning instead of fasting

My Lenten goals are getting a slow start. This week it was tackle the cupboards and bookshelves of the kitchen. I'm on the first shelf of cookbooks in the kitchen--next will be the "junk drawer."  I'm already stuck at the computer. I'm looking at a recipe take away from the Home & Garden Show, Feb. 25-Mar 5, 2006. As I recall I picked it up because we went to a demo for a chocolate peanut butter torte with bananas in honor of Elvis' birthday at Gourmet Galaxy Cafe which was sponsored by Whole Foods, Columbus Dispatch, Home Source Interiors, etc. Before I put this in the stay or go pile, I'll just mention 2 recipes easy enough for 80-somethings to learn (each 2 pages features a Columbus chef or personality with their favorites. 

1)  Manny Malhotra of the Columbus Blue Jackets (hockey) offered, "Asparagus a la Manny" which requires 1 bunch of asparagus, salt and pepper and olive oil and aluminum foil.  2) The COO of Donatos (pizza chain based in Columbus) and daughter of the founder reported that she had worked in all areas from take-out window, making night deposits, spreading sauces and cheese to dotting pepperoni slices to the edge, but there was no recipe.

When I went back and checked my blog, I see I had written about this cookbook in 2006. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/03/2228-chocolate-peanut-butter-cream.html.

By the time I got to shelf 3 I was browsing Vols. 3-5 of "A Taste of Columbus" by Beth Chilcoat. Vol. 5 was 2000, and she began the series when her children were small, and by this one she had grandchildren. I had inherited these from my daughter who had given them originally to her mother-in-law, Marilyn.  All are done in calligraphy with lovely drawings of Columbus' historical scenes. Chilcoat's husband (also co-author) died in 2006 of ALS, and she later wrote about widowhood and grief. Cap City Diner Meatloaf by Jimmy Mohammed has 28 ingredients (mostly herbs and spices) in vol. 5.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent

This morning at 6:30 I’ll go to our Lytham Road campus of UALC for the imposition of ashes.  Merriam-Webster explains:

Lent

“Lent traces back to Old English with the meaning of "springtime." In the Christian church, the word refers to a period of spiritual preparation for Easter, a feast that commemorates Jesus' resurrection. In Western churches, it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and one half weeks before Easter, and is, traditionally, a time of penance and of a 40-day fast (excluding Sundays); the duration of the fast is patterned on Jesus' praying and fasting in the wilderness (or desert). In Eastern churches, it begins eight weeks before Easter, and both Saturdays and Sundays are excluded as fast days.

In addition to penance and fasting, the devout often choose to give up certain pleasures, such as sweets or weekend binge-watching, as a way of remembering the suffering of Jesus. If you see that forgoing something is beginning to put a person in a bad mood, find or make them a Jack-a-Lent (originally, a Jack of Lent), a stuffed puppet traditionally set up as a target to be pelted for fun during Lent and destroyed on Easter Day. It might be a good diversion.”

You cannot “fast” from sin!

Thinking of a Lenten fast?  This author says some suggestions are just daft! You cannot fast from pornography! It’s always bad!!

We should always avoid sins, such as cruel words, unjust anger, selfishness, and, yes, pornography!  These are not good things that we temporarily abstain from, and then offer up as a sacrifice to God as part of our fast.  These simply are bad things that always displease Our Lord and which we should always avoid doing.

The notion of giving up sins as part of our Lenten resolution confuses the very nature or purpose of fasting, which is to deprive oneself of a good for the sake of a greater good – closeness to and ultimate union with God. You simply cannot “fast” from sin. If we have fasted from hurting words or pornography during Lent, do we then take these sins back up on Easter Monday proudly saying we will give them up again next Lent?  The very notion is absurd.

https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/02/22/in-praise-of-real-fasting/?

The fast of Lent

"The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, avoiding all gossip, lying and swearing. To abstain from these things— herein lies the true value of the fast."
— St. John Chrysostom

I think this is more difficult than giving up chocolate or social media.

Fasting and feasting for Lent

Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday, and for many Christians it is a time of fasting. Here's a lovely thought from Methodist pastor William Ward (1921-1994).

Fasting and Feasting
By William Arthur Ward

Lent can be more than a time of fasting. It can also be a joyous season of feasting. Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others. It is a season to:

Fast from judging others; feast on Christ living in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on appreciation.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal hope through Jesus.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicions; feast on truth.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from thoughts of weakness; feast on promises that in spire.
Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds.
Fast from everything that separates us from the Lord; feast on everything that draws us to the Lord.

Lent Day 6–The 2nd temptation of Christ

I usually don’t copy an entire story/meditation, providing a link instead.  But for this one, it was so appropriate to power grabs of today, I hope Father Robert Barron won’t fault me for providing the whole thought. You can receive these by e-mail.

Photo by Lisa Hendey

 Having failed at his first attempt to tempt Jesus in a direct and relatively crude way, the devil plays a subtler game: "The devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant."

This is the more rarefied, more refined temptation of power. Power is one of the greatest motivating factors in all of human history. Alexander the Great, Caesar, Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, Charlemagne, the Medicis, Charles V, Henry VIII, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Nixon, and Kissinger - all the way down to your boss at work. These are all people who have been seduced, at one time or another, by the siren song of power.

We notice something very disquieting in the account of this temptation: the devil admits that all the kingdoms of the world have been given to him. He owns and controls them. That is quite a sweeping indictment of the institutions of political power. But it resonates with our sense that attaining high positions of power and not becoming corrupt is difficult to do.

It might be useful here to recall the two great names for the devil in the Bible: ho Satanas, which means the adversary, and ho diabolos, which means the liar or the deceiver. Worldly power is based upon accusation, division, adversarial relationships, and lies. It's the way that earthly rulers have always done their business.

A tremendous temptation for Jesus was to use his Messianic authority to gain worldly power, to become a king. But if he had given in to this, he would not be consistently a conduit of the divine grace. He would be as remembered today as, perhaps, one of the governors of Syria or satraps of Babylon (and do you remember the first-century satrap of Babylon?)

No, Jesus wanted to be the one through whom the divine love surged into creation, and so he said to Satan, "It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.'"

Today is fat Tuesday and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday

Carnival comes from Latin and means "to stop eating meat." In the 1500s, "carnival" time was the last three days before the Christian season of Lent. Lent is 40 days (Sundays aren't counted) before Easter of repentance and moderation or fasting in the Western church tradition. It was the last chance to eat meat until Easter. Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, when the cooks used up all the fat before the Lenten fast. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, when Christians go to church and have the sign of the cross made on their foreheads from last year's palms from Palm Sunday (usually purchased because it is very hard to make your own ashes, at least at our church).

What did you give up for Lent and were you successful?

I gave up Facebook, and can't say it was a huge sacrifice. I looked at a few messages, and left a comment on my son's page, but I didn't write on my "wall." But apparently I wasn't the only one. Someone did a survey of people on Twitter, and these were the top of the fast list:

"The top vote-getter, you ask? Twitter. Followed by Facebook, with chocolate third, soda seventh, and the teenage troika of transgression—swearing, alcohol and sex—landing fourth, fifth, and sixth."

So I guess I didn't do anything original.

Today is Ash Wednesday

If you live or work in the NW Columbus suburban area and wish to attend a service with communion and imposition of ashes, you're invited to one of the services at the three campuses of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. The earliest, at 6:30, is over. At Lytham Rd. there is a 12:10 p.m. traditional service (liturgy), a 6:00 family service and a 7:30 traditional service. At Mill Run at 6:30 p.m. there is a family service, and a 7:30 contemporary service. At Hilltop at 7 p.m. there is a worship service with communion. Check the link for addresses, and maps.