A Friday Evening During Lent

Last evening we decided to go to the fish fry at our Church. As we arrived in the parking lot, the garage door was open and the delicious fragrance of fish cooking was in the air. The Knights of Columbus put on a fish fry every Friday during Lent. They were cooking the fish in the garage...so the Church wouldn't be filled with the smell of fish this weekend. I went over and talked to the "cooks" asking them if they were cold. They told me that they would stand out in the cold as long as people came and wanted to eat. We talked a bit and then went down the basement stairs to the Church hall. We ate a delicious meal...baked fish, baked potato, coleslaw, dinner roll and no dessert for me. Remember...I gave up desserts for Lent. This was especially hard for me last night..chocolate cake, brownies, coconut cake, pound cake, pineapple upside down cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and several more. I drooled as Joe took a plate of brownies. The gal across from me had given up desserts for Lent as well. Older Catholics and Protestants remember the times of giving something up that they enjoyed. Now some don't practise that tradition and feel that Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form....not just for Lent, but all through the year. I still give up something that I enjoy...usually sweets. I like the discipline. After the meal we went up to the Church and did the Stations of the Cross. If you've never done this...it is a moving part of Lent. We have stained glass windows all around the Sanctuary that depict the Stations. Starting with Jesus being condemned to death to being laid in the tomb. A narrator stood in the center aisle telling the story, while a young boy...holding the cross moved from window to window. We took part by reading our parts and kneeling at appropriate times. The windows were lit from outside...very beautiful. The Stations ended and we came home. A nice way to spend a Friday during Lent.

Balisha