Now, before I get going on this I want to say that I’ve heard it go both ways, and I’m definitely not saying that mine is 100% right. Ok? Here goes: I don’t take Sundays off in Lent. I’m sure some of you already know exactly what I’m talking about, but for those who don’t, basically what I mean is this: if you take a simply mathematical look at the span of time between Ash Wednesday and Easter, you come up with 46 days, not 40 (maybe 47, depending on how you count days, but either way, definitely not 40.) This has been frequently treated as a reason to take Sundays “off” from your Lenten sacrifice, as Sunday is typically a day of feasting rather than fasting.
But I don’t do that. “Why?” you ask… well, the short answer is I was raised that way (which may be the short answer for why many of us practice the way we do, but that’s an issue for another day.) The longer, though still somewhat short, answer basically boils down to the following– I feel that if you’ve committed to doing something special for Lent, you shouldn’t just ditch that because you can. Instead, I find it more rewarding not to go out of my way to take Sunday off, but rather to keep at my Lenten sacrifice as I would any other day. That said, I don’t think it’s wrong to use Sundays as a break; it’s just not the way that I do things.
How about you? Do you “take off” Sundays in Lent or observe your typical sacrifice anyway? Why? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
