Holy Week ain't a good time to hit the beach or the club

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coachdennis said:
Did you not notice the smiley face at the end of my comment??? It was an attempt at humor – obviously misplaced.

The OP did not specify if he was talking about himself or in general. So it is left for the rest of us, not being mindreaders, to guess.

And yes, in my opinion and my contribution to the discussion if we are to make sweeping generalizations then we do have to be careful about general judgments.
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Smiley faces do not negate a disrespectful comment. The OP was obviously addressing fellow Catholics. Non-believers don’t observe Holy Week anyway. I believe the question was about the appropriateness of enjoying recreational activities during Holy Week, not the spiritual condition of those who do. I agree with another poster that as long as the activity in question doesn’t lead you to sin and doesn’t take time away from your Lenten penances and observances, there isn’t anything wrong with it.
 
Seeing as I’m currently sitting at a chilly 3 degrees in Canada - having Holy Week at the beach sounds just fantastic!

My MIL is currently in Guatemala on missions, for Holy Week, apparently they sure are partying!! 😃

Peace,
~ PetiteFoi
 
Allegra said:
Smiley faces do not negate a disrespectful comment. The OP was obviously addressing fellow Catholics. Non-believers don’t observe Holy Week anyway. I believe the question was about the appropriateness of enjoying recreational activities during Holy Week, not the spiritual condition of those who do. I agree with another poster that as long as the activity in question doesn’t lead you to sin and doesn’t take time away from your Lenten penances and observances, there isn’t anything wrong with it.
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I think you are missing my point or I am not expressing myself clearly.

Let me try one more time again, for the last time.

The OP was addressing fellow Catholics but he did not say specifically if this was something he himself should avoid doing or something Catholics should in general. As a result we are left to guess how to address the question.

He concluded his post with: Your thoughts, everyone?

I assumed that everyone meant I could express my opinion … and I did. If you read my post I stated that if it was a problem for the individual don’t do it, but we have to be careful not to make that decision for others or be careful of questioning other people’s motives. And yes, nonbelievers don’t observe Holy Week but we cannot make the conclusion that because someone goes to the beach or to a club during Holy Week he or she is NOT a believer.

If I did not say that in an appropriate manner then all I can say is I’m sorry.
 
pnewton said:
They are for me. I do the music. 😃 I agree on the need for balance, but it is also always important to understand priorities. But as far as Triduum, I will always keep that clear.

There are some extracurricular activities I will not allow because of the tendancy of those sports to be played on Sunday. But I know Spring is a tough time. So much to do, so little time. I have a strange schedule this year. My son is off the week after Easter because of a Catholic school conference. This allows us some light at the end of the tunnel. I have taken off so we can do some things.
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I used to have the same issues. I was a gymnastics coach and we often had competitions on Sundays. Most of the parents did not like it but there isn’t much you can do about it when a competition has to run all weekend. They were all non-Catholics but very Christian people who even let me incorporate a prayer into our before-competition routine! 12 girls and not ONE complaint from the parents! Some even led the prayers :). One thing I can say for the Protestants is that they really do make God a part of everything!

Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound judgemental. I just know how disappointed some kids get when they have been working so hard toward a goal and then for one reason or another they can’t make a competition or an event.
 
In the area where I live, all schools are on spring break this week. It looked like 50% of the usual attendees at Mass were missing (it’s a rather affluent parish…a lot of people travel to warm climates for spring break).

I’m not expecting a big crowd at the Easter Vigil.
 
Good Friday and Easter? No. The rest of the time? Sure. I’ll just also try to mix in some time to get to Holy Thursday mass along with the rest of the usual services.
 
I have a birthday party to attend on Friday. My 20th birthday was yesterday on Palm Sunday and my friends are throwing me a birthday party on Saturday. Holy Week in’t gonna stop me from partying (responsibly)! :dancing: And then, I’m gonna party for Jesus on Easter too. 😃 I usually have lots of fun during Holy Week! It also turns out to be a huge week for birthdays! (And by the way, my version of “party” usually involves getting friends together, going to dinner, and hanging out. Definitely not too much debauchery. :rolleyes: )

Holy Week is a good time for reflection, but we don’t have to spend the whole week being miserable and sad thinking about Christ’s passion. I like to sit down at the end of the day and truly reflect and pray, but if Jesus is like I think he is, I think he would want us to not mourn his death too much. After all, he is resurrected and now we have eternal life! I’m sure he wishes that we remember that he did have a happy ending, and he liked to have fun too! 😉 It is very important that we remember his passion, but we do not need to completely halt our life for it.
 
coachdennis said:
I think you are missing my point or I am not expressing myself clearly.

Let me try one more time again, for the last time.

The OP was addressing fellow Catholics but he did not say specifically if this was something he himself should avoid doing or something Catholics should in general. As a result we are left to guess how to address the question.

He concluded his post with: Your thoughts, everyone?

I assumed that everyone meant I could express my opinion … and I did. If you read my post I stated that if it was a problem for the individual don’t do it, but we have to be careful not to make that decision for others or be careful of questioning other people’s motives. And yes, nonbelievers don’t observe Holy Week but we cannot make the conclusion that because someone goes to the beach or to a club during Holy Week he or she is NOT a believer.

If I did not say that in an appropriate manner then all I can say is I’m sorry.
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If it was wrong, and I don’t think it is, it would be wrong for all Catholics. Trying to discern if something is right or wrong is not judgemental. It is using discernment. Your statement read to me as if you were saying that the OP was being judgemental by trying to discern whether it was right or wrong to go out and have fun during Holy Week. One is being judgemental when they try to judge the guilt or degree of offence of another person in the eyes of God. Deciding if an action is sinful or not isn’t being judgemental regardless of who comitted the act.
 
Allegra said:
If it was wrong, and I don’t think it is, it would be wrong for all Catholics. Trying to discern if something is right or wrong is not judgemental. It is using discernment. Your statement read to me as if you were saying that the OP was being judgemental by trying to discern whether it was right or wrong to go out and have fun during Holy Week. One is being judgemental when they try to judge the guilt or degree of offence of another person in the eyes of God. Deciding if an action is sinful or not isn’t being judgemental regardless of who comitted the act.
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Yes, Allegra is correct. I am using my discernment.
 
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