Feast of the Annunciation

Yesterday was March 25 (for those of you who missed it it will come around again in another year or so) which just so happens to be the Feast of the Annunciation here in the Catholic world. It is an amazing full blown Solemnity right here in the middle of Lent, designed to give hope and joy to our lives as we plod on towards Easter. When a solemnity goes cruising by in the normal liturgical year (and by normal I mean not Lent), most of us tend to blow it off and pretend like it's not really a big deal. At least that's our reaction if we ever new it was a solemnity at all. One of the great things about Lent, however, is how it call us to a slightly different standard than Ordinary Time. It calls us to the standard of holiness that revolves fasting, abstaining, and extra alms-giving. When a Solemnity rolls around during Lent we get to indulge in whatever it is that we gave up; and if it happens to fall on a Friday we even get to eat some meat. Yesterday evening was about 40 degrees here, but that didn't stop me from firing up the grill and throwing on some Polish sausages because hey, it was the Annunciation and a Friday all rolled into one. I even contemplated making a cake to celebrate. What really makes me laugh are the people who was consider such a celebration to be cheating God. These are generally the same people who give me condescending looks when I tell them they don't have to fast on Sunday's during Lent. The look is usually followed by some comment about how real Catholics fast every day during Lent and don't look for excuses not to suffer for God. When I respond by telling them how real Catholics practice this funny thing called obedience and quit trying to be holier than the Church they usually get mad and walk away. This is why I don't have very man friends. It does continue to make me wonder why so many people seem to be against having fun in the name of Christ. Christ himself was at a wedding feast and when they ran out of wine, He made some more. Heaven itself is described as the wedding feast of the Lamb. I pray for those people who feel that holiness is 2 parts sad face and 1 part judgmental attitude towards those celebrating. Someday they will realize that it is 3 parts awesome, and that should be enough for anybody