open eyes

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability,
but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape,
that you may be able to endure it. — 1 Corinthians 10:13

Sometimes we celebrate this day as the final day of Carnival, the festive time between Epiphany and Lent. It is joyous culmination of a season of feasting and partying, marked by vivid music, masks, costumes, and dancing.

         Traditionally, on this day prior to Lent, households would cook to use up extra oils and fats, prior to Christian practices of fasting through Lent. Pancakes werev opften made and served. It’s meaning translates to ‘Fat Tuesday.’

In a liturgical context, this day is called Shrove Tuesday: dedicated to seeking absolution orior to entering Lent’s preparatory journey. On this day, churches burn the palms used in last year’s Passion Week in order to create the ashes which will be shared in Wednesday’s religious observances.

Symbolically, we burn away the vestiges of last year’s pomp and circumstance. Metaphorically we shed any outer layers, veils, uniforms, and armor that guard and hide us.

         As we approach Lent, this becomes an invitation to consider the masks we wear. What is our public identity? What face do we present to others? Usually our best selves.

         As of tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, the season comes when we’re invited to unmask. Offer ourselves, bare-faced, open-hearted, to God’s presence. Accepting and loving our whole selves, the messy and imperfect parts of ourselves, as well as the wonderful, strong aspects of ourselves.

As we burn the leaves, we let go of something. We also reveal something.

Today, when we put down the fork from the feast, when we slip off the mask after the music fades, may we offer ourselves to holy Love. After all, what’s the benefit of hiding from Godself? We’ve been seen and known all along. The only ones from whom we really hide are ourselves, and maybe other people. God knows us, whether we choose to be known or not.

         God’s response is to pursue us, even when we withhold or withdraw. God’s promise is to love us: shadow and light, broken and beautiful, part and whole. — Rev Gail

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Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives
from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough’. — Brene Brown

PRAYER for MARDI GRAS
— excerpted from prayer by Andy Anderson, SJ, Loyola Press
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for it is from your goodness that we have this day to celebrate on the threshold of the Season of Lent.

Today we feast. We thank you especially for one another. As we give you thanks, we are mindful of those who have so much less than we do. As we share these wonderful gifts together, we commit ourselves to greater generosity toward those who need our support. 
Prepare us for tomorrow. Tasting the fullness of what we have today, let us experience some hunger tomorrow …As our feasting fills us with gratitude … hollow out in us a place for deeper desires and an attentiveness …
We ask you these graces with our hearts full of delight and stirring with readiness for the journey ahead. We ask them with confidence in the name of Jesus the Lord.