This Tuesday is Pancake Tuesday in Ireland and England, the day before Ash Wednesday. It marks the end of the Carnival period of celebration. The practice of celebrating carnival probably began in ancient times when the Sunday a week before the beginning of Lent was called Dominica Carnevala, or "farewell to meat Sunday" - referring to the upcoming Lenten fast from meat and animal products.When I was young this was one of the great yearly traditions and an evening of great excitement; on just one day of the year pancakes were made and eaten,usually with lemon juice and sugar. We would rush home from school as if about to particpate in the greatest of feasts. It was not really the food which created the excitement. It was the rareness of something celebrated year on year in the family.
Rituals like these, which mark the passing of seasons are very important, especially in this modern age which blends each day and each season into periods of work and shopping. We need to ensure that there are real moments of non-work in our lives where we celebrate other realities and other rhythms, not just evenings where we crash, tired from work, trying to recharge before it starts again the next day. In some real way our work has to be part of a greater meaning. In the traditional Christian sense, this came from seeing work as contributing to the development of creation and as part of a social function. It is hard to see that in our modern office setups and in large corporations. Family rituals celebrated together remind us that there is more to life than what the markets dictate. Family customs bring mindfulness to even mundane activites. They are occasions together which raise the ordinary parts of life into signs of life's deeper blessings and celebrations, and allow grace to touch our inner selves.
