Wednesday, February 22, 2012

My First Ash Wednesday (reposted from last year)


I remember my very first Ash Wednesday, my first day of
fasting as a Catholic. For me it was easy as pie; it was
a piece of cake. (Although, of course, I had neither pie nor
cake!)
Remember, I am a Jewish convert, a veteran of Yom Kippur
fasts: From a little before sundown until a little after sundown,
no food, and nothing to drink. Not even a sip of water!
The not eating wasn't all that hard (I'm not saying it was a picnic, but who picnicked on Yom Kippur, anyway?).
What I found hard was the "not even a sip of water" part.
So, my first fast as a Catholic was easy in that respect. What I found difficult was figuring out the "two small meals that
together don't equal a full meal."
It was like a combined one-day-diet and math exercise!
When Fr. Kelly asked me how I'd gotten through my first
fast-day, I couldn't help laughing.
"Father," I said, "you don't know from fasting!"

Homily 2012-02-22 - Fr Joseph Mary MFVA - Ash Wednesday



Fr. Joseph shares two great stories in this homily. Thank God, we don't have
to give up laughing during Lent!

Encouraging news about EWTN's Fr. Anthony

Fr. Anthony hopes to be back on the air in the near future.  Oh, HOW I'm praying for that to happen! https://franciscanmissionaries.c...