Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

Lenten Plans

Well…its that time of the year again. Ash Wednesday begins in less than two weeks. The funny thing is that about two weeks ago I was psyched for it, I couldn’t wait for Lent to begin. However, the excitement has dulled, mainly because I dread the emotional turmoil I seem to go through every year at this time. I know spiritually I get attacked and tested much more during Lent, after that Advent, which, makes sense. Lent being a time of preperation, repentance and giving up of earthly desires for Jesus’ Crucifixion and Ressurection seem to be a great reason for Satan to attack when we are most weak. After all Lent is just like Jesus being led to the desert to be tempted by Satan.

What to give up? Well, I have already decided this. It is a mix of what I gave up last year and years past, but last year during Lent I suffered a slew of different medical problems that forced me to pretty much only do one offering. But, I digress:

No Sugar – I actually gave up sugar last year for a month for other reasons and was impressed with how healthy I felt afterwards, so, why not, its a tough addiction for me.
100 Pushup Challenge and 200 Situp Challenge – I started these last Lent with very good results, however, I had to go to physical therapy and was told that I couldn’t do pushups and I gave up on situps out of depression. (www.onehundredpushups.com and www.twohundredsitups.com)
Read Scripture – I’m disappointed in myself for not pulling out my Bible enough. So, one chapter of the Gospel and several chapters of the Old Testament should be sufficient.

I think that for Lent we should try to add or subtract 4 things if we are able to. That should be our goal. We have 4 aspects to our human persona, no matter what state we are at in life.
Mental, Physical, Spiritual and Emotional.
Mental- We have a brain that God has given us to use for good. We should try to add something educational or take away something that doesn’t help. (E.g. Read something educational, Give up TV or Internet) (I am not giving up or adding in this as I am already doing a lot of studying for my career, I am unsure if I am able to add more, I may get rid of my Netflix subscription if I spend too much time using it).
Physical- Our bodies are a temple. We need to keep them active and healthy. (E.g. Exercise, give up sugar or some sort of food).
Spiritual- Our souls need their nourishment too. It is important to add or subtract an activity that will help us grow in holiness. (E.g. Read Scripture, Pray, Mass).
Emotional- Our emotions also are needed to be controlled.
There are many other activities you can do for Lent. It really is up to you and if you haven’t given up anything for Lent, I suggest you start this year. Ash Wednesday is on March 9. For those who may not know or have forgotten, Ash Wednesday is a day of Fast and Abstinence. Fasting as in 2 small meals and one normal size meal, no snacks. Abstinence as in abstaining from meat. Fish and seafood are permitted. Fridays are always days of Abstinence and finally Good Friday is another day of Fast and Abstinence.

Jeff February 24, 2011 1 Comment Permalink

Is Red Bull Anti-Catholic?

As I was watching a video online, I was presented with a rather crude advertisement for Red Bull. It begins with two young lads talking outside of a Church and what presumed to be a Catholic priest walking in. One boy asks the other, “are you sure this will work?” My immediate thought was, ok, how does “Red Bull gives you wings” have any effect on religion? Will the boy drink it and “beat” the priest to Heaven? Well, in short, he goes in and confesses adultery and the priest then berates the boy with questions on which woman it was. The boy says he won’t tell and walks out and tells his friend “I have two more leads!”

Seriously…is this what Red Bull thinks of Catholics? I don’t get how they believe that this is really going to help advertise.
I urge you to boycott Red Bull and complain to them here:
The video you can see here:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3OPo9wHuk&w=300&h=200]

Jeff February 21, 2011 Leave A Comment Permalink