Our Lenten Walk with Jesus (and beer)

"I’ve never met the Devil (yet) but I imagine it’s a pretty scary experience. But then again I guess that’s the point."

-Brian Andreas

I trust that you’ll find more humor than blasphemy in my title to this post. And if its irony causes some uneasiness well, it was kind of intentional – like the word “(yet)” in the above Andreas quote.

For the record I consider myself to be a rather religious person. But my God does not impose much shouldering of burden in return for my belief and ultimate salvation. My God expects no ritualistic puppetry, no habitual chant or showy whaling. My God loves me and wants me to live in comfort and to be happy. He demands no weighty sacrifice - no dragging cross. And as such my piety desires quiet, intimate privacy and speaks mostly in the form of deed and moral conviction. And with that my God is happy and I am at peace.

My beliefs notwithstanding, the Lenten season is upon us. And what better way to gain forgiveness for past sins than by a little show of self-sacrifice. Catholic tradition “demands” this in the form of the relinquishment of one’s carnivorous desires for the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. And despite the ever-present threat of eternal damnation and the punitive portent of casting disobedient flock into the fires of Hell, their belief structure is reasonable. And so tradition goes no meat during Lent...but only on Fridays. No meat, that is, except fish. And no meat, that is, unless a Lenten Friday falls on a Saintly Feast Day or, God forbid, a Lenten Friday coincides with St Patrick’s Day whereby special dispensation is granted and the obedient flock is free to enjoy corned beef and cabbage without fear of persecution. But this leniency, and Friday meat, is served rarely.

And so despite our Protestant-ness, for the six Friday’s of every Lenten season we willingly allow ourselves to become “children of a lesser meat” as it were. We celebrate this abstinence by gathering with a dozen or so good Catholic friends and joining together with many thousands of others intent upon the same selfless sacrifice in the traditional practice of the Friday Fish Fry – an Omaha tradition.

In Omaha the Friday Fish Fries of the Lenten season are well organized fundraisers for local Parishes. And although there are many to choose from, we typically attend the one at Mary Our Queen Church. The meal is served in the cafeteria of the Church’s elementary school and the multitudes of repentant sinners create a food line that weaves its way through the halls of the school.

On a typical Friday, we’ll wait in line somewhere between two and three hours – yes “hours”. But the time passes quickly as we enjoy the company of our good friends, conversation with newly acquainted line standers and the constant serving of beer – yes “beer”. 

Omaha's Mary Our Queen Elementary School is said to tap between 50 and 60 kegs on any given Friday during Lent. Ah, now we get to the gist of thing! Certainly the felowship, fish and associated forgiveness are worthy of maybe thirty minutes of queuing but the free flowing brew accounts for a good two or three more hours of line standing tolerance. And line cutting is encouraged. There's nothing worse than an intolerably short line at a fish fry. Amen.
[Click here or a few more pictures]

I’ll end with the only Lenten joke I know...

John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill. Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were fixing fish. This went on each Friday of Lent. On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John - he was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn't take it anymore.

They decided to try and convert John to the Catholic faith. They organized a group who went over and talked to him. And they were so happy when John decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic. They took him to Church, and with a sprinkling of water the Priest said, "You were born a Methodist, you were raised a Methodist, and now you are a Catholic." The men were so relieved, now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.

The next year's first Friday of Lent came, and just at dinner time, when the neighborhood was sitting down to their fish dinner, there came the wafting smell of steak cooking on a grill. The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! What was happening? They again organized and decided to meet over at John's place to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent. The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill. And as John sprinkled water over the grill they heard him say, "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."