Friday, March 7, 2014

The Blessings of Good Health During Lent

Since Tuesday I have been pretty much sidelined by a nasty respiratory infection that has been going around. Bone shattering coughs , fatigue , fever , etc . My main goal since getting this nagging thing is just to do anything to do anything to halt its progression before it becomes something more serious. There has been a lot of bed rest. Needless to say my LENT is off to a slow start.

So for the first time that I can recall I could not go to Ash Wednesday services. Today my mother brought me one of my favorites round steak and rice for Lunch. My mother is not Catholic so had no idea of what my typical Lenten obligation would be as to meat. However being sick I felt exempted and I was not going to deny the effort she made to get me better. Plus at this point anything that make me eat is a priority especially if I have any hope of getting to Mass tomorrow.

All this started to make me think about the blessings of health in general and during Lent . It is a joy to be able to do voluntary prayerful sacrifices . Our fasting is of course little league compared to the Eastern Christians but it is still a beneficial practice. Also I have to admit I have felt a little but out of sync with the Church Universal and Christians from all over the world.

Social media is often a very young enterprise , and I think we are too apt to forget about those in hospitals or those that because of sickness are home bound . Liturgical seasons are important for a Catholic . Its like a cycle of life that repeats every year. Lets recall  and try to be assistance to those that for whatever reason are not able to practice the beloved  rites of their Faith to the same extent they were for decades because of health issues.

1 comment:

Rick67 said...

Good post, and my prayers that you get better soon!

(And if during Lent someone serves us something outside guidelines for fasting, exactly what you did. Thank the person and eat it giving thanks to God.)