Dear People Whom God Loves,
The season of Lent starts this Wednesday. There are a number of ways for us to focus on our spiritual growth such as praying, reading the scriptures, participating in Mass, acts of kindness, charity, and justice, listening (really listening) to family members, recycling and whatever you might think of. I encourage you to consider these.
In this column I want us to look at our traditional practice of fasting and abstinence. There are present-day reasons that might have escaped our awareness. We might want to do this throughout Lent or one or two days each week of Lent.
We can reframe it by calling it “eating healthy”. There are personal and environmental benefits. Consider these thoughts:
• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Reduce the amount of saturated fats
• Reduce the amount of sodium
• Eat fewer pastries
• Consume less alcohol and nicotine
• Eat less red meat
• Eat more family meals
• Drink fewer soft drinks
• Eat slowly and enjoy it
• You fill in the rest
These hints can help us to become healthier and live longer.
There are also benefits for our environment. Consider these statements from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization:
• Livestock production is responsible for more climate change gases than all the motor vehicles in the world.
• They also say that a meat-based diet requires seven times more land than a plant based diet.
• One of the causes of deforestation in the Amazon is the need to clear pasture lands to allow cattle to graze in order to meet the demand for beef in the North. (See The Future Church by John L. Allen Jr. p 328.
Happy Lent everybody!
Smile, God Loves You
Father Clay
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