As Lent approaches, a listener named James asks, “Ash Wednesday falls on the same day as Valentine’s Day this year. How do I observe the fast while still celebrating the holiday? I’m not just talking about dinner out with my spouse, I’m a big fan of chocolate too. Can I just start my Lent a day later?”
Father Dave reminds us, “Lent is a time that we not only prepare…it will make [Easter] that much more of a celebration; it will make those ‘Alleluias’ ring out even more if we spend some time going without for a little bit.” He says, “Lent is a time when we pull back on things. It’s also a time that we ideally try to clear out some of the clutter of our lives, particularly our spiritual lives, to make more room for God.”
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He explains how the Church calls us to fast two days of the year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. “As Catholics, we define it as really having only one meal during the course of that day. We are allowed to eat at other times to supplement our nourishment, you could say [two] snacks or smaller meals,” Father Dave says, and the USCCB notes that these two smaller meals are not to equal a full meal. Father Dave also notes the tradition of fasting from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Lenten Fridays. “This comes from centuries-old traditions where, in many cultures, meat was an extravagance and a lot of people didn’t even have it…one of the modern values of [this fast] is that it’s something that we’re all doing together.”
Father Dave says that you can still have chocolate or go to a restaurant this Valentine’s Day, but suggests having a simpler meal in keeping with Ash Wednesday. He offers a more suitable option of going out to dinner on an upcoming weekend and to give other expressions of love on Valentine’s Day itself. “I know a couple who have been dating since high school, and they’ve been married all these years. They have a tradition [to write] at least a one page love letter to each other,” he says. “Maybe that’s a way to celebrate even if it’s just for this year…this gives us an opportunity to mix it up a little bit and find a different way to be romantic, while still honoring the beginning of the season of Lent.”
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While we can move our Valentine’s Day celebration, we cannot move Lent as James suggests. Father Dave explains, “Can you start Lent a day later? No, part of it is that we all start together and we’re all on this journey together. The way we view our theology of Church and community is that it’s not just a whole bunch of individuals dealing with God on our own; we are really on this spiritual journey together. When we begin a particular season, like Lent, it would be important to begin it all together.”