Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. And if these actually are the rules now, I will again.
It is Lent, the weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter when Catholics traditionally fast as a reminder of the hunger and problems in the world.
This year, the papers have been full of stories of Catholic bishops urging the faithful to do various high-tech fasts: unplug their iPods, stay off the Web, no Twittering, texting or Facebooking.
I had to know whether this was true, so I flagged down the Rev. Thomas Carzon, pastor of downtown’s Holy Ghost Catholic Church.
He looked a bit weary after Mass and 2½ hours of confessions. I apologized. He was gracious when I asked about the texting and Twittering thing, and invited me to chat.
People get things confused, he said. Concentrate on three things: prayer, fasting and alms-giving.
“All three are integrally related, serving to deepen our relationship with God and to free us to love our neighbors more as well.”
The prayer thing I get, I told him. Could we maybe skip to the fasting? He laughed again.
“If I give up some foods I like for Lent, it opens my heart to compassion for the hungry in this life, a realization that might lead me to an act, such as giving to the poor,” Father Tom said.
But we are talking about my gadgets and programs, many of which I use in my business.
“Maybe there’s a guy who spends all of his time on his computer, his BlackBerry, who never spends much time with his spouse, his children or his friends. He is so invested in his virtual reality, he neglects his actual reality, so for him, it might be a good way to fast.”
Whatever happened to simply giving up meat on Fridays during Lent, the way my family always did, which led to a near-river of fish during my formative years?
That rule still applies, he said, but hinted it may not be enough.
Giving alms was next.
It isn’t, Father Tom said, simply about writing a check. It is about opening our eyes to the needs of others.
“It is about giving our time, or money, or attention to whomever is in need,” he said. “Are you starting to see how the prayer, fasting and alms-giving all fit together? It is all about sacrificing some good things for something greater.” He wasn’t done.
“Let’s say you go out for dinner once a week. What you could do is give that up during Lent, set aside that money and donate it to the poor. It’s what I call effective love.”
Isn’t love all the same?
“Well, there is effective love, and what I call affective love. Affective love is, say, my heart is all gushy with sentiment over world hunger. But are you doing anything concrete about it?
“Effective love,” Father Tom said, “is: Here is a hungry person. I want to help them.
“Affective love is not bad, but it can be a form of, well, stroking our own ego.”
We chatted for a long while. The man knows his Bible. Just before we said goodbye, I ran that e-mailing thing past him one more time. He just smiled.
“Prayer, fasting and alms- giving,” he reminded me. “Getting right with God and your neighbors will put you in the same place too.”
So I won’t be shoveling coal for eternity if I slip?
“Find something meaningful,” Father Tom said. “What’s right for one person, might not be for another.”
Bill Johnson’s column runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
