>>>>>No, at least not today - they are all in San Francisco selling .NET to the
>>>>>world. Today, Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent! What better day to
>>>>>start such an endeavor?
>>>>
>>>>Well, I would have preferred a day I could actually eat the cake and cookies... :-)
>>>
>>>Garrett;
>>>
>>>My initial take at your response was extreme laughter. Then it really sunk in! Last night and this morning all I have thought about is “Chocolate Chip Cookies”! Not any Chocolate Chip Cookies but those baked by our daughter from my mother’s recipe. 39 days to go and counting!
>>>
>>Tom,
>>
>>I'm asking this just out of curiousity. When do you end your Lenten discipline? Palm Sunday or Easter?
>
>George;
>
>How about neither? :) The fact is that Lent for Roman Catholics ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.
>
>Some people mistakenly think that the "40 days of Lent" include the Sundays. Were we to count from Ash Wednesday, including each Sunday, we would find that the 40th day would fall on Palm Sunday! But this is not so.
>The Sundays are undeniably part of the Lenten season, but they are not part of the penitential 40 days of Lent. Sunday is a Holy Day of Obligation; the Day of Rest; the Lord's Day. Catholics have never been obliged to fast on such days. When we count from Ash Wednesday and EXCLUDE all Sundays, we find that the 40th day is Holy Saturday, the day before Our Lord's resurrection, as it should be. The 40 days of penance and mortification are fulfilled without being contiguous.
>
>Now this is very interesting information and I will have to clerify with my parish priest if I can have my chocolate chip cookies on Sundays. If that is the case there will be a lot less stress around here! :)
>
>How does your church view this subject?
>
>Tom

Tom,

I’m a bad theologian, so what follows here is my personal take.

I, frankly, don’t know what the Church’s official position is. I have, however, heard a number of arguments on the subject, which I’ll summarize.

Lent ends on Palm Sunday

In the Anglican Church, the days that start with Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday are known as Holy Week and is a separate liturgical season from Lent. Therefore, the Lenten discipline no longer applies.

The Counter Argument

Since each Sunday is a feast day, you cannot count the six Sundays as part of Lent, and as such, should not be included.

The Counter Argument to the Counter Argument

Since each Sunday is a Feast day, then you are free to break whatever Lenten discipline you have chosen.

And so on…

My own take on this is that I don’t “give up” stuff. Rather I “take up” stuff. I’ve always thought that the point of Lent was to make us better people and kinder to each other. Say I love potato chips and give them up for Lent. Now, if I’m crabby and just plain unkind to those around me, what good does it do? Further, whenever Lent ends, and I resume the habit, how have I improved myself? The answer, IMO, is first to “take up” something that will positively affect the people around you. If it’s only being nice to the household pet, then it’s worth it. Second, just because Lent ends, doesn’t mean that you necessarily go back to being the same person you were before. Why not continue the “discipline” throughout our lives. That would have a much more positive impact.