During Lent, there will be no burger with my fries By Matt Palmer [email protected] Go big or go home, right? Lent is about sacrifice and walking in the journey with Jesus. People all across the globe will start the season with Ash Wednesday Mass and try to come up with something they are giving up for 40 days. A year ago, I gave up sodas, no small feat for a guy who drinks Cherry Cokes like they’re water. This year, I’m pulling out the big gun. I’ve giving up … wait for it … hamburgers. Stop laughing. Seriously, pick yourself up off the ground and breathe. Giving up burgers is a big deal to a picky eater like myself. The way I see it, great burgers are an art form, taken for granted like a 1980s Hall and Oates song – always a reliable hit. As a reporter, I’m constantly on the run and getting a drive-thru burger is an easy fallback. As a regular guy, I look at a restaurant menu of what other people see as a display of delicious food and wonder what the hamburger tastes like. More often than not, someone says, “Like a burger.” And I respond, “Awesome. I’ll get that.” Sometimes I get an itch and just run out and a buy a burger. It’s really that bad. Of course, I like making burgers on the grill, too. It gives me that boost of feeling extra manly about my burger addiction. Lenten Fridays have always been tough for me. A day without meat is a sacrifice, even if I like pizza and fish of all kinds. The idea of adding in all the days of Lent makes the march to Easter Sunday look daunting. Boy, I feel stupid writing that. Whether it was sodas last year or burgers this year, I’m trying to compare my inability to eat burgers with the suffering of Christ and the simple thing is, I can’t. We know what Jesus did and why he did it. If you think about what he went through for us, it’s almost incomprehensible. My “march” is small and I’ll have to keep that in perspective. Lent’s a time when we should be spiritually in tune with Christ and I really shouldn’t need a lack of burgers to do that. As we all take on our sacrifices during the next 40 days, let’s remember what Christ did and try to be more like him. Video: Pilgrims leave Rome to continue work of archdiocese By Catholic Review Staff The consistory celebrations have come to a close, but memories from the week will remain embedded in the consciousness of Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholics for years to come. Christopher Gunty, associate publish of Catholic Review and CatholicReview.org, files this special video report from Rome, which also looks forward to upcoming events. Watch the video below: Avoid the seductive voice of the devil By Father Joseph Breighner Few moments in the Scriptures are more poignant than Jesus confronting Satan in the desert. In our Lenten season of prayer, fasting and giving we see this scene as our own scene. Ironically, one of my Lenten temptations came during the Christmas season. Let me explain. As I was opening some Christmas cards, a check for $1,000 fell out! Naturally I was thrilled, but when I looked more closely at the check I realized that the part that read: “Payable to the order of” was blank. “To be or not to be?” was the question Hamlet wrestled with. To put my name there, or not to put my name on the check, was what I wrestled with. Naturally, the voice of the devil argued for me keeping the cash: “You don’t get a salary. You need the money. It will help pay your rent. Stop denying yourself!” But the voice of conscience, the voice of the Spirit in me – the quiet, still voice of God – said: “You wanted to be a philanthropist. You asked people to mail checks to you so that you could send them to the Little Sisters of the Poor. Keep your word!” So I mailed the check to the Little Sisters. (In the future, please mail checks directly to the Little Sisters. I lose too much mail. And they still need $12.8 million for their capital campaign.) I hasten to emphasize that good doesn’t always win in my life. As long as there is original sin, there will be poor choices. (See my column about the Ravens online at CatholicReview.org.) Put in its simplest form, original sin means we can’t always make the right choice. But what does affect our choices? How do we know the still, quiet voice of God within from the very seductive voice of the devil? And the simplest answer I can give is that the voice of God constantly invites us to live for others, and the voice of the devil invites us to think only of ourselves. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Yes, we must love ourselves. But the irony is this: We love ourselves best when we love others. To love ourselves doesn’t mean just to look out for this limited ego, this flesh-and-blood individual on this planet. To love others as our self is literally to see that we are all part of one self. When we love others, we are loving and caring for ourselves. St. Paul caught it best when he used the image that we are all part of the body of Christ. When we love others, our love connects the whole world to this body. We recognize the oneness of all humanity. To look at it another way, the purpose of Lent is not to make ourselves miserable. We don’t give up something for a period of time, just to go back to it in six weeks. We give up our attachments to various things so that we are free. In its simplest form, during Lent, we first pray in order to keep ourselves aware of our oneness with God. Second, we fast. We give up things or behaviors that distract us from God or separate us from God. Third, we give alms as a way of recognizing that what we do “to the least” we do to God. To love ourselves and to love others unconditionally is to know the greatest love possible. We have all known the love of one person. Imagine loving 7 billion people. How good would that feel? Let’s find out this Lent. Theology on Tap By Sarah Greenberg Review correspondent The young adult years can often be a time of transition and uncertainty. Twenty- and 30-somethings find themselves in a state of flux, as they negotiate the daunting responsibilities placed upon them: navigating the workplace, finding significant companionship and planning for their future. The Catholic community provides its young parishioners with an antidote to their malaise, complete with cold, frothy beverages. Theology on Tap, a program that offers faith-related conversations in area restaurants and bars, engages young adults in their 20s and 30s – though all ages are welcome – in the richness of the Catholic faith. The program consists of regularly scheduled discussions, in which a notable speaker presents on a certain topic before opening the conversation to listeners. Theology on Tap serves as a way for young people to connect with one another and ground themselves in Catholicism. Local Theology on Tap groups meet in Baltimore, Ellicott City, Frederick and Annapolis, gathering in accessible areas and venues such as the Greene Turtle in Fells Point and Patrick’s Irish Pub in Baltimore. With topics ranging from war theory and Islam v. Christianity, to stem cell research and same-sex marriage, the events draw crowds of 30 to 40 people, mostly in their early 20s to early 30s. “We first and foremost present these topics with charity,” said Rodnie Matute, 34, of St. Michael’s at Aberdeen Proving Ground and a leader of Theology on Tap in Fells Point for six years. “We pride ourselves on having a friendly environment.” Some of the featured speakers at the Fells Point Theology on Tap group have included Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Bishop Denis J. Madden, Father Leo Patalinghug of Grace Before Meals and Mary Ellen Russell of the Maryland Catholic Conference. Meeting in pubs and restaurants helps open eyes to what’s going on in the church in a “real-world setting,” Matute said, “which allows people to see the broader sense of our faith.” The discussions demonstrate to today’s young adults, regardless of the level of their commitment to a religious practice, that they can incorporate their faith into everyday life. “Young adults tend to compartmentalize their lives, but you can bring your faith and social life together, said George Brunner, 23, of St. Peter the Apostle in Libertytown and a Theology on Tap group leader. “I want to break that barrier.” Expanding young adults’ sense of Catholicism “converts hearts,” according to AnnaMarie Link, 28, of St. Mary in Annapolis and a leader of a Theology on Tap group. “We educate and promote discussion about what the Catholic Church believes and why the Church is strong,” she said. “Young adults get a solid teaching from someone educated on the topics.” Such open discussion reifies abstract concepts of faith that elude or intimidate young adults “looking for something more because they feel that nothing is offered for them,” Brunner said.