Lent

[Montie_Claunch]

I was wondering, During Lent you give something up. If you mess up and accidently do that thing which you give up (i.e. if you give up eating fast food and you forget and go to Sonic) is it a sin? Just curious, this spring would be my first Lent and I tend to forget occasionaly. Thanks and God bless.

 

[katy]

Honest forgetting has never been a problem with the no meat on Friday during Lent rule, so I would think not.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

There is no vow involved, and don’t promise it; just promise to do your best.

If/when you slip you might add a brief prayer or something to make up.

But keep it simple. Don’t make it an overwhelming burden. Small regular penances are better than huge ones. There is always the temptation to do great penances - which will lead you into pride.

 

[BlestOne]

Montie Claunch:

I was wondering, During Lent you give something up. If you mess up and accidently do that thing which you give up (i.e. if you give up eating fast food and you forget and go to Sonic) is it a sin? Just curious, this spring would be my first Lent and I tend to forget occasionaly. Thanks and God bless.

Montie,
I think you are missing the whole idea of giving something up for lent. The idea is to help prepare ourselves for Christ’s death and resurrection by in some small way by forgoing something that we enjoy. To gladly sacrifice even as our saviour sacrificed himself for us. Since when does making an honest mistake lead to sin? Our Lord is not sitting around waiting for us to mess up, he already knows we will…we are human!
The lenten season is about preparing yourself to receive the awesome gift that Jesus gave us by dying for us. I don’t know about you, but I wonder if I can ever prepare enough for that. During lent in my house, I encourage my kids to truly give up something that hurts…for one kid it may be candy, another pop, yet another tv watching. The point I always make to them is when they are tempted, to think about Christ up on the hill without food or water for 40 days with the devil tempting him, and then look at how trivial their sacrifice is knowing that in the end they crucified him. If you mess up, make a point to pray about it and move on, or maybe, sacrifice a little more the next day…like if you gave up fast food and forgot until after you ate at Sonic…maybe you could resolve to fast for a day, or give up meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is a disappointment to yourself at your failure but not a sin.

 

[FightingFat]

I used to give up something (like chocolate or alcohol) but lately I have been trying to do something instead, like visiting someone sick or housebound, it’s a really nice idea.

 

[Montie_Claunch]

BlestOne:

Montie,
I think you are missing the whole idea of giving something up for lent. The idea is to help prepare ourselves for Christ’s death and resurrection by in some small way by forgoing something that we enjoy. To gladly sacrifice even as our saviour sacrificed himself for us. Since when does making an honest mistake lead to sin? Our Lord is not sitting around waiting for us to mess up, he already knows we will…we are human!
The lenten season is about preparing yourself to receive the awesome gift that Jesus gave us by dying for us. I don’t know about you, but I wonder if I can ever prepare enough for that. During lent in my house, I encourage my kids to truly give up something that hurts…for one kid it may be candy, another pop, yet another tv watching. The point I always make to them is when they are tempted, to think about Christ up on the hill without food or water for 40 days with the devil tempting him, and then look at how trivial their sacrifice is knowing that in the end they crucified him. If you mess up, make a point to pray about it and move on, or maybe, sacrifice a little more the next day…like if you gave up fast food and forgot until after you ate at Sonic…maybe you could resolve to fast for a day, or give up meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is a disappointment to yourself at your failure but not a sin.

O.K. Thanks. I didn’t know. I figured that scince if one didn’t know that something was a sin and did it, it would be a veinil sin (I think) so thats why I asked.

 

[jman507]

Yes I’m with fighting fat. It is better to do something for someone than to give something up, although there can be good in that too. Some how atleast where I’m at it seems there is more focus on giving something up, than doing good for others. But if you give something up, I’d keep it simple just to remind you you gave it up and your doing it for the honor of God, and not so much as conquring a challenge. Hehehe I have a tendancy to fall into that.