Light a Lenten candle this Earth Hour:  A carbon fast reflects the true meaning of the Lenten season

“Hide the chocolates! I’m giving up candy!” Today, is Lent for North American Christians merely a confectioner’s nightmare (or a dieter’s dream)?

Isaiah 58 offers a different challenge: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them?”

Although an ancient tradition, under the papacy of Gregory the Great in the 600s, Lent became a 40-day (not including Sundays) preparation for Easter. It was marked by fasting and by denial of pleasures. Christians fasted until afternoon and ate only one meal per day, usually in the evening. Many went vegan, skipping meals of meat and animal products, even fish.

In 2010, Benedict XVI’s short Lenten message is a profound reflection on the theme of justice. The pope reminds us that in Lent, “The Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel.” If a “sincere review of our life,” leads us further than our dietary choices, what more could Lenten observance mean?  Read Article

By Joe Gunn