shrove tuesday

shrove tuesday is fascinating because it is celebrated by many activities by many people who don't necessarily know why they do the things they do except that they have always done them. in northumberland, for instance, as in many parts of britain, the day includes a football match. as carnival it is "celebrated by many people who seem mostly to be looking for an excuse to enjoy drunken excess. in the united states even, it is still celebrated with pancakes by many who will not participate in any real lenten fasting.

the name of the day, shrove tuesday, comes from the old english word "shrive" meaning to confess one's sins and have them forgiven. that was of course when we still thought there were sins, and found the burden of them intolerable. now what makes us miserable is most often not our sins, which we quite enjoy, thank you very much, but the downturns of the new leige lord of our lives, the economy. if there is anything we recognize as sin, it tends to be part of the society, for which we are not responsible.

it is against this background that i find these words of oscar romero insightful:

"how easy it is to denounce structural injustice, institutionalized violence, social sin. and it is true, this sin is everywhere, but where are the roots of this social sin? in the heart of every human being. present-day society is a sort of anonymous world in which no one is willing to admit guilt and everyone is responsible.

"because of this, salvation begins with the human person, with human dignity, with saving every person from sin. individually there are among us here no two sinners alike. each one has committed his or her own shameful deeds, and yet we want to cast our guilt on the other and hide our own sin. i must take off my mask; i, too, am one of them, and i need to beg god's pardon because i have offended god and society. this is the call of christ.

"how beautiful the expression of that woman upon finding herself pardoned and understood: 'no one, sir. no one has condemned me.' then neither do i, i who could give tht truly condemning word, neither do i condemn; but be careful, brothers and sisters, since god has forgiven us so many times, let us take advantage of that friendship with the lord which we have recovered and let us live it with gratitude."