Christian theology thread for Christians - Deus homo factus est naturam erante, mundus renovatus est a Christo regnante

My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?

I'm giving up coffee and I just finished brewing my last cup before posting this, will drink it before midnight.

If any of the non-Catholics also observe Lent, same question.
 
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Preacher ✝ said:
My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?
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I’ll be giving up alcohol and doing some fasting. I really should be praying the rosary more, so I will try to do that once every day. I usually try to do some reading for Lent but I haven’t picked anything yet.

Anyways happy Lent to all you fellow Catholics and to the Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics who have already begun.
Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
 
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Preacher ✝ said:
My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?

I'm giving up coffee and I just finished brewing my last cup before posting this, will drink it before midnight.

If any of the non-Catholics also observe Lent, same question.
Click to expand...
Intermittent fasting, no coffee, no sweets, and reducing cigarettes to three a day.
 
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Where do you look if you're considering Christianity but also don't have anyone to talk to about it(and not in the "I'm shy" way)?
I have been reading the new testament with an explanatory guide - it's been enlightening in some parts and reassuring that I've already had these outlooks on life prior; but I'm still not sure what it is I need to do to actually worship or count as religious.

What is the stance on ritual and tradition, like communion or baptism or even just confession?
As I've mentioned I'm not really in the position to go to a church, both for mine and the church's sake.
 
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BiggestKai said:
What is the stance on ritual and tradition, like communion or baptism or even just confession?
As I've mentioned I'm not really in the position to go to a church, both for mine and the church's sake.
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You are gonna have to talk to a priest or preacher my dude. And they work in Churches. Even the wierd non denominational types will have some loose form of organisation. They might have a website or social media pages or phone lines and mailing address. So you can contact them somehow.
And unless you have some contagious disease you can enter a church just fine. People who have done terrible things can also believe in God.
 
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Preacher ✝ said:
My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?

I'm giving up coffee and I just finished brewing my last cup before posting this, will drink it before midnight.

If any of the non-Catholics also observe Lent, same question.
Click to expand...
Sweets and anything meant to be sweet. It’s my biggest problem when it comes to health and wasteful spending. I’m also going to get more involved in my church and start volunteering to do things for the community.
 
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Preacher ✝ said:
My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?
Click to expand...

Prayer - adding litany of humility to daily prayers. Praying very specifically for someone who has/is causing a lot of trauma and problems for my family. Incorporating the rosary more regularly, although not daily.

Reading - I have a group of tabs full of unexplored Catholic stuff that I'd saved "for later" that I'm going through daily. I'm also doing a couple of app "during lent" courses (having to take advantage of "free trials" so must remember to cancel!). I'm limiting my use of this site to off topic, apolitical, non-gossip threads.

Fasting/food - Outside of Fridays/Ash Weds etc I'm intermittent fasting 16:8. I want to push myself enough to have to exercise self control, but i also don't want to feel like I'm treating Lent as a "diet" if that makes sense? Two meals are overnight oats in yoghurt. This isn't too far outside of what I usually eat so I've removed fruit & spices. I've given up drinking anything other than black, unsweetened coffee and water. No snacks unless I'm getting irritable with family. Snacks must be plain, like an egg or small tin of sardines. Only salt or vinegar as flavourings. I accepted some fruit off my daughter yesterday because she wanted to share her satsuma and she's 3. Bread limited to one slice with main meal, no butter.

Fasting days I'm just having the family/evening meal as I kind of already do the "two smaller meals" thing regularly. It'll be fish. I considered vegetarian but landed against it for family reasons. I might next year though, I can work meals so that my kid still gets meat/fish.

Other stuff: Making a more conscious effort to engage more in active play with my daughter. Sounds awful but it's easy to fall into putting her off due to being "too tired" or the challenging nature of young children. Obviously I'm hoping to carry this on past Lent!

Charity - I don't have the resources to expand much on what I already do, but I give to the food bank collection every Weds and keep at least one 10p back in my wallet so kiddo can used the novelty collection box whenever we go to the supermarket. Perhaps I should keep something else back for the homeless too over this time period.

I hope this is a time of blessings, and deepening of faith for everyone here (not just the Catholics!) Sending love and prayers.
 
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Preacher ✝ said:
My fellow Catholics in the thread, what is your Lenten sacrifice this year?

I'm giving up coffee and I just finished brewing my last cup before posting this, will drink it before midnight.

If any of the non-Catholics also observe Lent, same question.
Click to expand...
I struggle a lot with pride and envy so I'm also saying the Litany of Humility daily and I'm giving up defending myself (verbally) and comparing myself to others. Everything I'm reading (and the priest during his Homily) said we shouldn't give up something random but instead it should be related to the capital sins we struggle with. That being said, I've also given up sweets and another habit. And generally I'm reading scripture and praying more, as well as making a commitment to go to Daily Mass everyday except Saturday.
 
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The Wisdom of Bl. Fulton Sheen

Day 67 - As scientific truths put us in an intelligent relation with the cosmos, as historic truths put us in temporal relation with the rise and fall of civilization, so does Christ put us in intelligent relation with God the father; for He is the only possible Word by which God can address Himself to a world of sinners.
 
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Meriasek said:
I got a question regarding transubstantiation. I always found it a tad silly, like it's totally fine to treat the eucharist as a metaphor and symbol and for Christ's sacrifice. Why does it have to be a literal transformation of the "substance", whatever that is? It sounds like a cop-out tbh, because everyone knows the host and wine don't actually change into Jesus' flesh and blood. So it's the "substance" that changes, and it's treated as a miracle that is performed every communion?
Why not drop the pretense and just treat it as a symbol?
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This is one thing that I find Protestants short circuit their brains rather than understand.

Every Sunday when you attend Mass or Divine Liturgy and partake in the Eucharist this is not a simple recreation. You are partaking in the same thing the Apostles did with Christ Himself. The Last Supper is understood to be the very moment Christ consecrated the everlasting Covenant he created with Mankind. When you drink of the Eucharist and consume the bread you are joining the same Covenant right there with Christ. Exactly as the Apostles did. This is the meaning of transubstantiation.

Throughout the centuries this is why the imagery of the Last Supper was so important and so prevalent. It pains me when I see how much the Protestants have carved out of the faith and discarded.
 
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If anyone is looking for a way to do alms for Lent or just in general this Catholic ministry organizes a letter exchange with prisoners.


For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.
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