Today is Mardi Gras Day, Fat Tuesday in the Big Easy. All across New Orleans, in the suburbs, on the Gulf Coast and in the cajun communities between Lafayette and Lake Charles it's the last day of the greatest celebration on Earth.
Mardi Gras holds great memories for me as a child because my family always dressed us up and brought us to venerable old St. Charles Avenue to watch the parades of Rex, Elks and Crescent City. For a child, it was exciting. We loved catching plastic throws from revelers riding on floats and decorated trucks. As I grew older, my wife and I, who dated all through high school, used to chase all the parades in an effort to make them all; about 50 during the entire season. As we married and had our own families, we would bring our own children to the parades. For my son, we took in Mardi Gras on the Westbank and for my daughter it would be in downtown Covington.
Now, the children are gone and I for one am very content to watch Mardi Gras through the eyes of the camera. Almost all of the local TV stations carry live coverage of all the festivities and that's good enough for me. Some of my friends understand, others think I'm already an old paw-paw. Both may be true but I love the simplicity of Mardi Gras Day for me.
Yes, I will watch the parades on TV but not as my main focus. Today, I choose to spend time preparing for my Lenten ministries as a Deacon, including a retreat we are doing next month inside the Rayburn prison. I also will begin preparing for my weekend homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent.
Many people across the country really only know Mardi Gras from news reports that show people in the French Quarter doing outrageous things for beads and trinkets. Others believe Mardi Gras is an excuse to be as drunk in public as possible. Let me be clear; these things do happen. But in balance it is far from the whole story.
Mardi Gras is family. It's friends. It's a wholesome celebration. That's why Mardi Gras is growing like crazy in the suburbs and the Northshore and in other places because the majority of the folks don't want excessive drinking and nudity and all the national media focuses on. Why not show the family celebrations on St. Charles, in Metairie, on the Westbank or in places like Covington, Folsom and Lacombe. Don't buy the hype folks; on balance, Mardi Gras is more about the celebration of faith, family and friends.
Did you say faith? Absolutely. Mardi Gras has a religious overtone as it was designed as a celebration to usher in the penetential season of Lent. Mardi Gras is a farewell to the flesh; meat that is and other fine rich food stuffs. Mardi Gras is a way to put all things aside by Fat Tuesday so that beginning on Ash Wednesday we can focus on prayer, penance and fasting.
No place in the world does Mardi Gras like New Orleans and south Louisiana. So today celebrate. Don't get drunk and please keep your clothes on. Make this a day for family and friends and bring your faith along with you today. Enjoy Mardi Gras day and then we will see you tomorrow as we put the ashes on our forehead and from our hearts begin the Lenten season.
Again, I'm reminded this Mardi Gras of those great verses from Ecclesiastis 3 beginning with verse 1: To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance...
Happy Mardi Gras everyone and wishing you a marvelously spiritual Lenten season.
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