If only Catholics were free to be Catholic.

There was a time where we didn't have to admire the Muslims for having a month of prayer and fasting because we had one of our own. In the last 50 years, though, the Church has reduced Lent to no meat on Fridays and two days of no snacks. I would like to think that this happened for a good reason, that the Church benefited from it, but it's pretty clear from the empirical evidence that, just like in every other incidence of the bishops relaxing long-held rules of discipline out of "pastoral necessity" [read: laziness], the faithful have simply been confused, angered, or otherwise alienated from the Church.

We are bodily and our religion is bodily. God became incarnate because it was the only way He could bridge an infinite gap. Christ gave us the sacraments because He knew that we couldn't be satisfied with encountering God only in an intellectual capacity but needed to experience Him in the flesh. Since we couldn't all be at Calvary, He brings Calvary to us. Likewise, we sin in and with our bodies and so need to do penance in and with our bodies if we are to truly learn our lessons. Lack of bodily penance quickly becomes lack of penance altogether, which is, in my opinion, a large part of why the Church is so weak today.

As part of my Lenten sacrifice, I will be fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. Aside from being rooted in the practice of the ancient Church (which fasted - in a more strict manner than in our two days of fasting today - for all 40 days of Lent), it is the pre-eminent way of mastering the body's inordinate desire for food, to which I am particularly prone and which has contributed largely to my poor health and my financial problems. Moderation is a virtue, but it is one that cannot be understood without an understanding of the two extremes to which it is linked. Having fasted today, I was tempted constantly to take a collation that I did not need, to gorge myself when I ate dinner, and to snack after dinner. I did it almost involuntarily several times, since I am so used to simply eating what I want when I want it. I hope that over the next few weeks and months those temptations will subside, but for now it's better to fight them the hardest when they are strongest.