How to get round fasting
I have heard it on good authority from
Muslims that during Ramadan, when Muslims are expected to fast from sunrise to
sunset, it is not uncommon for there to be lavish feasts and parties thrown
after sunset that are grander in scope than any meal eaten outside Ramadan.
Thus, the technical obligation of fasting during Ramadan is observed, but the
penitential nature of the season is obfuscated.
A similar
phenomenon can and does happen with Catholics during Lent. Not wanting to be
too burdened down with the obligations to do penance that Lent imposes on us,
we find little ways around them, ways to still be festive and at ease in the
midst of the Church's most intense period of penance, ways in which we fulfill
the letter of the law whilst completely missing the purpose of this season of
austerity.
The examples are legion, but I think you know what I am talking about. Here are
some common Lenten loopholes:
Staying up until midnight feasting the day before Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
so you don't experience hunger the next day.
Peter Cheevers' short stories are published by Ether Books
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