Lent, a time of sacrifice.

So, the Lent is upon us again. Just like Advent, it is a time of preparation, as far as I know. It leads us through Holy Week and it ends on Easter Sunday. The word "lent" means something in Latin and I just don't know what. Oh well, it means something nice anyway. It is a time of penance and fasting to commemorate Jesus' fasting on the wilderness. Yez can look it up for yourselves.
It is customary to give up something for Lent. Or some people start doing good chores and it's equally as viable. I can't really remember, because I happen to have quite a rubbish memory, if I ever gave up something for Lent and stuck to it for the duration of the period. I might have had all the good intentions to cease eating chocolate or something of the sort, but I imagine I fell short on committment. So what? Jesus won't really mind if I have this Dairy Milk bar, or this whole tin of chocy biccies. Well, this year is going to be different. I'm making my statement and I'll making it loud and clear. It's going to be so fuckin loud that even the bloody prophets and all those little wingéd people will hear me in Heaven. I'm aiming not to have a single drop of coffee during Lent! D'ye hear that up there?? Ye better, coz this is all in your name! It doesn't really sound fair does it? Jesus fasts for forty days in a desert and in the end, the Devil tempts him and he still doesn't give in to him, while we on the other hand give up coffee or chocloate, give in several times (not me though) and then in the end we stuff our faces with Easter eggs. If the devil in the story is symbolic, then we sell our souls twenty times over.
Being a priest must be fun sometimes. You can denounce things and nobody says anything. You can tell people off and they don't mind. Well maybe not anymore, but back in the day like. Anyway, I'm not a preaching man. So, forty days without a coffee, sounds easy, real easy. I didn't start off too well. I was in Newry yesterday, Ash Wednesday, and I forgot my intentions and I had a white coffee. It's really all my mam's fault, she ordered it. But as I said, bad to start, good to continue. Or something like that anyway. I didn't even think of this torture, I mean Lent observence, it was initially Lorna's idea. But it's a decent one. I'm not trying to say that decent ideas rarely come from her, I'm just saying that it's a good idea. I think I'm digging digging here. Ok, I'll put down the spade. It's day two anyway and I haven't had one so I'm good. I'll see how I get on. Maybe I'll keep a record as the days go by. "Day Nineteen. I think I'll die if I don't get caffeine into my blood before this day is out." Nope, I don't think I'll go insane. I've gotten a bit used to it, having a cuppa after school. I'll pull a Kavanagh and charm back the wonders of a child's soul with this. I'm going all the way, not just stopping having sugar, so I'll be like a seven year old twice as fast as Paddy! Happy Lent!