We are not aligned with the East in our fast this year. We begin about five days before them this year, because we begin on Ash Wednesday, midweek. Quinquagesima is the 50th day before the Paschal feast for us in the West. We continue to pray, that both East and West will unite to celebrate together every year. The practices of Ash Wednesday are so profound, as are those of Forgiveness Sunday, and I hope that eventually the Church will get her act together and find a way to bring them together in all ways.

I've explained before that xerophagy is the accurate term for Lenten fasting. It means dry eating. We restrict meat, fish, dairy, eggs, oil and wine, which means our food is not as lubricated as normal. There are two strict fast days (no food or nutritive drink) in the West, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. There is an optional strict fast from the evening after the Maundy Thursday service through the end of the Paschal Vigil. In the East, the first week of Lent, from Clean Monday through their vespers service on Wednesday is supposed to be as strict a fast as possible, with the guidance of a spiritual father or mother, and they share the same Triduum fasting, I believe. Aside from that, the earliest rule of the Church is to eat no meat, no fish (with the exception of shellfish - and because of the expense, we eat them sparingly), no dairy or eggs, no olive oil (all oil in a few jurisdictions), no wine (or alcohol). On Saturdays and Sundays, the rule is relaxed to include olive oil and wine, and on a few significant feast days we are able to eat fish, and one day caviar is permitted (Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, with fish eggs acting as a shadow of the eggs associated with the Resurrection). In the West, we celebrate Laetare Sunday about midway through the fast, and on that day we also eat dairy and egg. None of this is to imply that eating or that any of these foods are bad. They are good things from which we abstain as a discipline to train ourselves, following the example and teaching of our Lord.

This is worship. Worship throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, always means sacrifice. It is not prayer, though that usually accompanies it. It is not singing hymns and songs, though they may also accompany it. It is not homilies or sermons, though they are edifying. It is sacrifice. The sacrifice that Christ offered for us once for all that we join into in the Eucharist. The sacrifice of something good for our own good in fasting. In the West, penance is emphasized, and while this is absolutely a part of our Lenten journey, fasting, praying, and almsgiving are seen more as a discipline Christ gives us through the Church to grow us spiritually. Young children, the elderly, those who have serious medical conditions, those who are hospitalized, pregnant and nursing women, are all exempt. There is no make-up required for these people. Their fast is considered complete. In all cases, fasting or not, we are to keep our eyes on our own plate. We are not to concern ourselves with how someone else is keeping the fast, unless that person is asking us for assistance or support.

This year, we have drawn down our diet a little more like the East does, so last week was our final week with meat, and this week holds our final few days with fish, eggs and dairy. Because our Sunday evenings are shared with an Anglican parish where we assist, there will be some Sundays with non-Lenten foods, and we will simply thank God for those breaks and enjoy them. I share our meals to encourage and help you to keep this worship. It is a training for ourselves, and an offering we give to God. Like all of these gifts, it is something He gives us first, which we then offer back to Him.

As we prepare for Lent, we must prepare for self-examination. So, in that frame of mind, if I have offended you or wronged you in any way, please forgive me and pray for me, a sinner. As for you readers, I pray that this will be a profitable and Holy Lent for you, however you observe it. Please pray for us, as well. Have a blessed fast.

• Sunday - Quinquagesima
  Breakfast: Apple Bourbon French Toast, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Church Family bringing Pork Shoulder, Parish bringing Side Dishes/Salads/Fruit/Desserts
• Monday
  Breakfast: Arabic Cheeses and Bread, Sliced Cucumbers and Olives, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Fish Tacos, Radish Salsa, Coleslaw, Strawberry Mango Salad with Lime Dressing
• Tuesday - Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Toast, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Paneer Mussallam, Rice, Fassoliya, Louqaimat, Fastnacht Kreppel Filled with Cherry Jelly, Fritule
• Wednesday - Ash Wednesday
  Dinner: Tahina and Date Syrup Sandwich with Sliced Oranges for Nejat
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Breakfast Burritos, Fruit, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: El Bulli Bean Soup, Bread, Fruit Plate
• Friday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast with Honey, Fruit, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Sheet Pan Chow Mein, Green Salad with Sesame Citrus Dressing, Mandarin Oranges
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Mana'eesh*, Sliced Cucumbers and Tomatoes, Sliced Pears, Coffee, and Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Moroccan Spiced Vegeable Soup with Cous Cous, Lenten Bougatsa me Krema

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Ash Wednesday, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Fasting as a Family, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Lent, Mardi Gras, Menu Plans, Quinquagesima, Tales from the Kitchen