Importance of Lent

The cultural group that I feel I belong to is the Catholic religion. My mother and grandmother raised me as a Catholic and I regularly attended Sunday church until I graduated from high school. I no longer attend church on a regular basis, but I do go to church on Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The food-related practice associated with the Catholic religion that I will discuss is not eating meat on Fridays during the Lent season and fasting during Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Even though I do not attend church on a regular basis, I do still observe the tradition of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent and eating only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Some Catholics still observe Lent by not eating meat during the full forty days. The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, and simplicity. Lent is the 40-day season before Easter, not including Sundays, lasting from Ash Wednesday until the end of the Holy Week. Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras, is typically a celebration for many as Catholics feel it is their last day to party until Easter. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the penitential season of Lent. Some traditions of Ash Wednesday are fasting and placing ashes on your forehead. The Holy Week is the last week of Lent before Easter, which begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday. Palm Sunday is the sixth Sunday of Lent where we commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Holy Thursday, also known as Mundane Thursday, celebrates Jesus' institution of the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Ordination. Good Friday is a fast day of the Church commemorating Jesus' crucifixion and death. Fasting on Good Friday means eating only one full meatless meal on this day. A person may still eat breakfast and lunch as long as the two meals don't add up to a second full meal. Snacking is not allowed during fast days but drinking liquids such as coffee and