We give up alcohol. Not so much for religious reasons, as a personal test.

I'm not Catholic but I gave up buying scallops at Aldi because they raised the price from $9.99 a bag to $11.99 just a few days before Ash Wednesday. Coincidence? Luckily I still had 4 packages left. I'm down to two now. I'm hoping they drop the price back down after Easter. If not, I guess I'll have to pay the higher price because I love scallops!

Some years I do. Since the year I gave up sugar, I’ve never gone back to adding milk and sugar to coffee. Of course, now the coffee needs to be really good. I enjoy it black.

I think it’s a challenge. Some years I’ve given up alcohol, sometimes meat....

Lent has no meaning to me, so no.

I'd forgotten about that tradition. I haven't paid attention to it since I was growing up and most of my friends were Catholic. I remember giving up things, but I don't remember succeeding at it.

I haven't done that since I was a kid. Back in 1972 I gave up catholicism.

In the past I've tried giving something up, but I have no will power and fail each time, so gave that up. I've also tried adding something meaningful -- extra charity, extra contemplation, etc -- and again mostly fail. So mostly I observe Lent via the hymns and sermons at church (which I don't find as satisfying over the computer screen, *sigh*). Surely by this time next year we'll be back to normal ....

The nuns at my school taught us to take things on for Lent since early grade school. This year I decided become better at praying. I bought the Jesuit priest and editor of America Magazine, James Martin's, latest book, How To Pray, and have been trying to do better in that regard.

Nickel, if you have any habits you would like to take on or get rid of, consider Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. Awesome book, extremely effective. Fun is the answer. This guy teaches Stanford kids how to build apps that are habit forming.

I've gone with doing more good works rather than giving something up. As for not eating meat, I reached the age (65+) where it no longer applies to me. It is still the best time of the year to get good fish though.

Amylou, I think last Friday (3/19) you would have been ok eating meat. Cut/paste from the internet:

While Catholics abstain from eating meat during the Fridays of Lent, this Friday, March 19 they are not obliged to do so because it is the solemnity of St. Joseph, according to a new directive by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Divine Worship.

I don't know what a "yard fish" is.

She was being silly to her mother. Sure it was "fish", the kind from a yard not from water.

The Catholic Church can be quite flexible on the subject of meat. Consider their designating beavers and capybaras as fish/not meat ;-)

From Scientific American:

So in the 17th century, the Bishop of Quebec approached his superiors in the Church and asked whether his flock would be permitted to eat beaver meat on Fridays during Lent, despite the fact that meat-eating was forbidden. Since the semi-aquatic rodent was a skilled swimmer, the Church declared that the beaver was a fish. Being a fish, beaver barbeques were permitted throughout Lent. Problem solved!

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/once-upon-a-time-the-catholic-church-decided-that-beavers-were-fish/

I honestly don't care what the Catholic church says anymore. They are not the type of institution I would take morality advice from,given their own track record from its founding. And I cannot be guilted by devout family either.

Socks, a chicken is sometimes referred to as a "yard bird." So,yes,as Elmer said I was being silly when I called it a yard fish. My mom knows I do not observe those traditions or whatever they are called. She wasn't really calling me a heathen either.

I hate fish and seafood. Growing up my Friday during Lent dinner was always boxed mac and cheese or a plain salad. That was it.

There is an interesting (to me) documentary series called "Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner." It was hosted by Clarissa Dickson Wright and it covers the beaver thing as well as other food rules the Catholic church imposed,though it was not the whole subject, it added to the interest.You can find them on YouTube.

I grew up in a very strict Catholic family and we never ate meat on Fridays until the church said it was ok to eat meat. We never ate meat on Good Friday and to this day even though I don’t attend church anymore I can’t bring myself to eat meat on Good Friday.

Murraysmom,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the rules of abstinence apply to all Catholic adults, even those over 59 years (the age at which we are no longer required to fast).

I like your idea of increasing "good works' during lent....I believe that requires the selflessness that we are meant to seek.

https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/lent/catholic-information-on-lenten-fast-and-abstinence

Giving up something for lent never really made sense to me. I guess because the people doing it often complained about it. Their selflessness became my suffering. :)

I am not religious, so I am not giving up anything. I do love Easter because of the pretty eggs and, of course, all the chocolate and other tasty sweet treats.

We are bad Catholics, so no, we did not. Haven't seen the virtue in this for the most part. I think it's best to be a good person, do good things, help others, share your blessings if you have them, lend a hand. Seems like a better plan to me, but I'm not the pope, so there's that.

I was raised Catholic and remained so for most of my adult life, with periods of intermittent church attendance, and always with maintaining my own beliefs, some of which were different from its teachings. Some call that being a cafeteria Catholic, which I was ok with. In recent years, I’ve grown more and more discontent with their hypocrisy and at some point, I decided I was done. I stopped giving them money several years ago, switching to other charities, and doubt I’ll be back to mass, though I do miss it.

BUT, I do still abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent always and most years have at least tried to give something else up. (Not this year...I’ve given up enough, thank you!). Despite my issues with the Church, I do still have a pretty strong faith in God. Giving up meat a few days out the year is not a huge sacrifice for me, but it does take planning and thought so I think of it as a way to remind me to stop and take some time to think about God, something I probably don’t do enough of since I stopped attending mass.

When I was a little girl, my father shared with us that he gave up watermelon every year for lent. In those days, watermelon was not available till mid summer.

I called my brother yesterday morning to see if he could refresh my memory. He’s eight years older.

My father’s mother, unlike her contemporaries, was not a “church lady”. My mom’s mother, on the other hand was.

Unusual for that time and place, both of my grandmothers were literate. Northwest France. Brittany. Celtic. Very Catholic.

My father was not religious. At all. My mother was, but did not, in his words, “shove it down our throats”. I didn’t recall ever giving anything up for lent. He said, if my mother did, she was quiet about it. It was personal.

However, we never ate meat on Fridays. We attended Catholic school. We had our sacraments.

It was when I met my husband that I tried giving something up. His family, mother, in particular, was a more traditional type Catholic. (There are all different types by the way, including me, who is not a “by the book” type.

I turned my back on the church in my teens, early twenties. The obvious reasons.

Then, at some point in my mid/late twenties, I found that I needed something. Unlike some zealots, (any religion has them) I feel it is A way. Not THE way. I am more familiar with it.

I will not abandon it. (Frankly, some of the super conservative types scare me. It needs people like me. It helps that the pastor in my Church is intelligent, loving and accepting.

I haven’t been there since last March. I’m still Catholic.

We are not all the same.

Michele, Thank you so much for that thoughtful post. Just the other day my youngest (16) and I were discussing what happens if we leave the Church only to those who are more conservative. Who helps make the changes we want to see happen? As for how I was brought up, my grandfather said all different religions are a language we use to speak to God and try to understand Him. Ours is Catholicism. Of course this concept only works for idealists (as opposed to materialists, that is those who believe there is a ghost in the machine and those who do not.) Atheists have their own ways of looking at the world and their place in it, as well.

PS I spent first grade at OLQM.

Thanks Zalco. That’s a smart kid!

As usual, I gave up self-denial for Lent.