Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday.
The following day is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Fat Tuesday is a fun day of celebration, preparation for the solemn day of Ash Wednesday. It's famously known by it's French name, Mardi Gras. It's also known in England as Pancake Tuesday. Feasting on extra rich pancakes with lots of fun toppings, with family and friends, knowing you'll be hungry the next day.

If you are willing, I invite you to make Ash Wednesday a day of prayer and reflection. You can do this by fasting – either skipping all meals for the day, or at least one.

When you fast, you typically still drink water – depending on your health, you may need to eat a fruit or small piece of wheat bread.

The hunger that comes from fasting is both a reminder of our Lord’s days in the Wilderness, but is also a reminder to pray and reflect on our appetites, on our desires, on our life with God.

If you were going to make Ash Wednesday a special day of prayer and reflection, a suggestion would be to center it around the Lord’s Prayer. You could keep it simple and pray it three times: morning, noon, and night. Another option would be to pray it every hour.

Or, to pray it throughout the day whenever the Spirit prompts you. Or a combo of those three options. The point is that you are slowly working your way through the prayer Jesus taught us – letting the words and ideas sink into your heart, letting them shape your words to God.

When praying the Lord’s Prayer, you may find that different phrases impact you at different points of the day, depending on how the day is going. You may find that you don’t quite understand what Jesus is asking you to pray, which will prompt good reflection. Or it may be convicting. You may also find yourself repeating the prayer over and over and over again. I often pray this prayer when I don’t know what else to pray – I let Jesus' prayer give me the words for the concerns I carry within me.

On Ash Wednesday, not only is it a day of reflection on the Lord’s Prayer, but it can also be a day of giving up something for Lent. Whether it is a particular food or drink, it can also be an addiction or bad habit, something on your schedule or some leisure activity, whatever you pick, it’s something that you’ll miss. It’s a form of fasting you start on Ash Wednesday, but continue over the whole Lenten Season.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the next day being Easter Sunday. May your season of prayer and fasting provide the Resurrected Lord with opportunities to dig around in your soul and mind, may He plant new seeds of hope in you as you make room for Him and His words.