Today is Mardi Gras Day or Fat Tuesday as it was called. Those of us from Mobile, Alabama, know about Mardi Gras. We grew up going to parades. We knew that Mardi Gras also existed in New Orleans . . . but we also knew that Mobile's Mardi Gras was older and better. When I was little and my mom had friends studying at Charity Hospital, she took me to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I just remember that it wasn't like Mobile's celebration at all . . . and I never went back to New Orleans' Mardi Gras. The reason for this season of festivities before Lent began as a necessary religious preparation for Lent itself. During the old days, when the Lenten Fast was very strict and there was no refrigeration, Mardi Gras (from the French, literally Fat Tuesday) was essential. It was necessary to use up all the animal-based foods before the Fast began. In the ancient church the Fast included eggs and butter. Which is why one received an egg at Easter. It was a sign that the Lenten Fast was over. It had nothing to do with Easter bunnies or Easter baskets. In Latin American countries this season is called Carnival . . . from carne, which means meat. Mardi Gras or Carnival is not an excuse for excess in food or drink. It is simply a time to prepare for the great Season of Lent when the whole Church goes on retreat with the candidates for the Easter Sacraments so that all of us can be prepared to celebrate the Triduum (the Three Days)--from Holy Thursday Evening to Easter Sunday. So let's get ready and let's celebrate!
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
HAPPY MARDI GRAS!
