Feasting is not Gluttony, Fasting is not Asceticism
A Mardi Gras parade at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi
You know it's not the case that we are "uncomfortable with feasting" and "eager to get on with the rigors of Lent". Things like Memento wouldn't exist if fasting came easy to us. And the obesity rate wouldn't be higher than ever if we didn't like to feast. We just don't find the debauchery of Mardi Gras to be in any way Christian.
— “David”
The above comment made by a certain “David” in response to my Mardi Gras sermon is illustrative and helpful. He is making one of the points to which I was alluding in the sermon. Yes, we live in a culture that is indeed “uncomfortable with feasting.” And the “obesity rate” actually proves it. For that is not “feasting,” but rather “gluttony.” And the confusion dates all the way back to when our Lord was mocked as a “glutton and drunkard” for simply doing what we in the Gulf South do at Mardi Gras: proper feasting.
It is easy to forget the Preacher’s wisdom that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter unto heaven,” including “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Eccl 3:1, 4).
One aspect of the wisdom of Memento is that it reorients us to this proper rhythm of life, both the fast and the feast. The Memento meditation for the day before Ash Wednesday reminded us that it was “Mardi Gras,” which is a feast, not a fast. Feasting is not debauchery, and fasting is not asceticism. Feasting is not antinomianism, and fasting is not works-righteousness. Of course, anything and everything can fall into sin, and that is why we need to be vigilant.
But we do not defeat the devil by either ceasing to fast or by ceasing to feast.
As for Mardi Gras, the actual debauchery is found on Bourbon Street, and the truth of the matter is, it’s mostly tourists from up north. Locals prefer the far more ubiquitous and traditional family-friendly (but far less reported on the idiot box) celebrations.
Our parochial school always had a Mardi Gras party for the children - Pre-K to Grade 8. They dressed up in purple, green, and gold, paraded around the gym, some faculty and staff wore costumes, and we tossed the kiddos beads, toys, and candy while joyful music played.
Our local historical society one year selected my wife to be the queen (king and queen were chosen at random). I think her French heritage served her well in wearing the crown and dancing in a second-line. Personally, I would not be a good king, but I do enjoy being on the sidelines.
When a Mardi Gras parade used to pass in front of our church, it was a church event. Mardi Gras parades feature such debauchery as high school bands, floats, people riding horses, baton twirlers, kings and queens, and the throwing of beads, Moon Pies, stuffed animals, and candy.
Parades are so popular that we have one in our city during Lent - but it is on Sunday (a feast day, of course). Our annual Italian-Irish Parade is happening soon, and it is going to be a church function, as it was last year: lots of kids hanging out with parents, grandparents, godparents, parishioners, their pastor, and other kids. We will see and rejoice with our neighbors and friends in the community. We will wear costumes and beads and enjoy both soft drinks and “Lutheran beverages.” Riders on floats, in addition to the usual parade swag, will also toss cabbages, carrots, and potatoes.
One of our Mardi Gras customs is the debauchery of king cake. Official king cake season (Carnival) begins on January 6 and finishes on Mardi Gras day. King cakes come in all kinds of flavors, but are usually like a large cinnamon roll. And they feature a small plastic baby representing our incarnate Lord Jesus, hidden somewhere in the cake. Whoever gets the piece with the baby is on the hook to buy the next cake.
So that is the debauchery that goes on every year at our feasts. One year, Portals of Prayer even wagged a finger at us. I wrote to the author, who had never even been to Louisiana in his life. But he doubled down because he saw it on TV. Yeah, my older parishioners who had been participating in Mardi Gras since childhood had a good laugh at that.
The fact that outsiders are quick to throw pietistic, scoldy shade at us for enjoying ourselves is part of why Memento is so needed. We need to learn to both feast and fast, and not to simply get ice cream out of the freezer any time we want, without even really enjoying it.