On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 22:39:17 +0000 (UTC), Charlotte L. Blackmer wrote:

> In article >,
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>>Hasn't the whole thing been twisted around and been turned into a
>>celebration?
>
> Lent? Hardly.
>
>>Some people make a big deal of Mardi Gras. Instead of using
>>up all the fat and sweet stuff to get rid of it so we can sacrifice for
>>40 days, it has been turned into a decandent party.
>
> It doesn't have to be a decadent one... but a party is good!
>
>>Then people go out
>>shopping so they will have a nice new outfit for Easter.
>
> A new outfit for Easter is hardly an invention of the modern "decadent"
> marketing age! Back in the Middle Ages, lords traditionally gave all
> their servants and retainers new clothes twice a year ... for
> Christmas/New Year's/Epiphany (NY and Epiphany being the gift-giving
> occasions) and Easter.
>
> This was before industrial spinning and cloth production, much less
> Wal-Mart and cheap offshore imports. New clothes were a huge deal, even
> to the rich.
>
> For me, planning Easter clothes and Easter food is part of the fun of
> Easter.
>
>>It is no longer
>>about Christ dying for our sins, whatever the heck is supposed to mean
>>anyway. It has become another marketing ploy.
>
> Items for Easter celebrations - candy, food, clothing, decorations - have
> been "marketed" in a secular manner ever since I can remember. Those who
> observe Lent in the traditional ways of prayer, fasting, study, service,
> and alms-giving will certainly notice a tension between the ways of the
> Church and the ways of the world, but again, this is nothing new and is
> not even the first time during this church year something like this has
> happened. We had Advent competing with Giftmas, the post-Giftmas letdown
> competing with the Twelve Days and the Epiphany, and now this. If
> some grocer trying to make an honest living tries to bring customers in
> by advertising "Friday fish" specials, I say, more power to him.
>
> What happened with you, Dave? Did someone pee in your oatmeal?
>
> Charlotte

did jesus get new clothes? no! did jesus have fun? i think not!

(although he did sort of tell his old man off for the first and only time i
know of.)

your pal,
blake