Making Tuesday Fat Again

Recovering the meaning of Christian feasts and fasts

03/04/2025

Mark 10:28-31 Peter began to say to Jesus, 'We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Do you have big plans for Fat Tuesday, or as today is known in New Orleans and France, “Mardi Gras”? Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday.” But today is traditionally also known as “Shrove Tuesday.” Shrove means going to confession and being forgiven or shriven of your sins. But sometimes people refer to this Tuesday as “carnevale” which literally means “good-bye to meat.”

“Carne” is Latin for meat, and “vale” means “farewell.” During the season of Lent we give up eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays. In other words, this Tuesday is “fat” not only because we pig out, but also because there are many layers of meaning for this day, like a many layered cake.

But I am afraid we are slowly losing all these spiritual meanings (these layers) of Fat Tuesday and are left with just another excuse to have a party. As you will witness if you watch the news this evening, you will see what the city of New Orleans dubs, “The Greatest Free Show on Earth.” But that anodyne name does not hide the fact that Nawlins becomes the capital of debauchery and decadence today.

On Mardi Gras, Nawlins steals the title of Sin City from Las Vegas.

That is, most of those folks celebrating Fat Tuesday will not be waking up on Wednesday to go to Mass and get ashes on their forehead, but only waking up with a pounding ache in their forehead, a hangover.

As Archbishop Fulton Sheen wisely observed even back in the 1970’s, “We are living at the end of Christendom.” For many modern Christians, including Catholics, our faith is just a shell of what it should be, as cheap and glittery as the beads we wear around our necks today.

The gospel from Mk 10:28-31 that we read today, therefore, is just perfect for Fat Tuesday. How so? It is as if St. Peter is standing on the threshold, the doorstep, of Lent, when he says: “We have given up everything and followed you.”

In other words, following Jesus by faith means living Lent all year long, not just for 40 days. We don’t just say farewell to meat (carne-vale) for a few days, but try to maintain a spirit of sacrifice, that is, carry our cross, all year long.

And how does Jesus answer the Prince of the Apostles? Our Lord replies: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

In other words, Peter and Jesus are injecting Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, and the whole Christian life with layers of meaning – making Tuesday truly Fat again. That is, they shed the light of heaven and eternal life on our earthly sojourn.

In that heavenly light and glow we see we are pilgrims on earth journeying to our heavenly home, and along the way there will be sacrifices and set-backs like on every vacation these days where we struggle with delays and cancellations at the airport.

My friends, we no longer live in Christendom, because the world around us – like in New Orleans tonight – no longer remembers what today and tomorrow mean. Our society suffers from collective amnesia of our Christian roots and the meaning of our Christian celebrations.

Nonetheless, the light of the Gospel and the words of Christ never lose their luster. Indeed, they shine the brightest in the darkness, like the star that guided the three Wise Men during the night to the manger and the Messiah.

So today enjoy your Mardi Gras parties and all the festivities. But don’t forget what makes Fat Tuesday truly “fat” – it should be full to overflowing with the meaning of faith: that life is a journey to our heavenly homeland. Faith is what will make this Tuesday fat again.

Praised be Jesus Christ!