#161. It's Lent! What's that?
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A short Ash Wednesday bonus episode with no movie on the docket, in which JVL and Mike "Catholicsplain" the season of Lent to their lone Protestant-raised, functionally unchurched cast-mate, Sonny. Mike lays out the basics — the 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays), abstaining from meat on Fridays, the Ash Wednesday fast that really just amounts to one full meal — and then he and JVL dig into the theology of what to give up, with Mike explaining that as he's gotten older he's shifted from renouncing things he dislikes toward sacrificing something he genuinely enjoys, which is why he's giving up Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook this year. Sonny counters, not entirely seriously, that his own sacrifice is giving up not playing video games, having just bought Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate Edition. JVL rounds out the episode with a detour into indulgences and purgatory-shortening ("your time is reduced" for a sufficiently painful sacrifice), a bit about the Marvels movie poster Mike texted the group, and a very funny aside about his son Flash getting in trouble in fifth grade for drawing a diamond on the classroom blackboard that turned out to be, per Flash, "a vagina." The episode closes with JVL and Mike gleefully teasing Sonny about his inevitable conversion — to Catholicism via his wife Beth's church, or possibly Judaism instead — and recommending he get plugged into an RCIA class.
From the show notes
Catholicsplaining to Sonny.
Full transcript
Sonny00:00:00Hey, welcome back. We're gonna bonus episode. We got a bonus episode here. We're talking about something I don't understand. JVL Mike, you want to explain to us what Lent is?
Mike00:00:20What do you mean? You're not giving you're not you're not giving something up for for for Lent, Sonny.
Sonny00:00:26I don't know what that means.
Mike00:00:28So explain the penitential season, Michael. Yes. So Lent is the 40 days, not counting the Sundays before Easter. You've heard of Easter, Sonny, I'm sure. And it is. What's that? I guess the one with the bunny. And and so it is the season in in JVL and I's church, the Roman Catholic Church, the season of penitence and and. And sort of reflecting on on the upcoming remembrance of the sacrifice of the crucifixion. And and so one. Well, there's a lot of things that we do right. We we abstain from from meat on Fridays. We don't eat red meat and alcohol on Fridays, right? I believe on Fridays of meat and alcohol. I said, well, well, you know, I mean, there's so many there's so many different views of what exists. Isn't that what abstention is? Technically, you know, let's move on. There's sorry. Maybe I'm wrong about that. You might be. I don't know. There's there. There are fasting days like like that. They were recording this on Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting. You're supposed to have basically one regular meal and to something that doesn't equal a meal to snacks or whatever.
Sonny00:01:53And that's not really fasting. Then you're just eating. Oh, it's like exactly.
Mike00:01:57Exactly. It's a category. Catholic fast. And and then, of course, we give something up or we do something extra or you can do both something a little bit more. That's supposed to help you in your sort of spiritual life. So the idea of cutting something out of your life that prevents you from, say, praying more or from or in the more positive sense, you know, doing something a little extra, volunteering more to soup kitchen, what have you. So, you know, everybody talks about what are you giving? Up for what do you what thing? What sort of worldly activity or my clients or thing?
JVL00:02:34Mike, let me ask you about that. Is it do you view it as cutting out something that you shouldn't be doing anyway or cutting out something that is simply something that brings you joy, something that you you enjoy? Not that it's necessarily bad for you, but because you are, you know, making a second, you're uniting your own sacrifice with Christ's. And, you know, it's. What is it? You know, the greater the feast, the the greater the penitence ahead of ahead of time. Right. And so Easter is the highest of holy days. And so you're.
?00:03:10You see what I'm saying?
JVL00:03:11Like, are you cutting out bad things? Are you cutting out so cutting out something that that isn't bad, but that just you like?
Mike00:03:18So I've moved as I've gotten older, moved more toward the view, the latter view, right, that that you're you want to find something that you. Like so that that it's a true sacrifice. You know, the joke when I was a kid growing up was, you know, you know, I'm going to I'm going to cut out like like broccoli. You know, I'm going to I'm going to give up broccoli for Lent, you know, which is like not a sacrifice at all. But, you know, but they do kind of meld, right? I mean, there are things that so I'm happy to share what I'm what I'm giving up. I'm giving up essentially social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
?00:03:54Not that I go on Facebook.
Mike00:03:54And I mean, we could have giving up LinkedIn. Exactly. Exactly. No, not giving that one up. And but, you know, I mean, it's the kind of thing where I guess we could all agree that like too much social media is just bad for you. Full stop. You know, I don't think social media in and of itself is a bad thing or that even I, you know, sort of misuse it. But it's the kind of thing that does sort of. I have noticed has taken over a little bit more of my life than I would like and cutting it out. You know, the way I think about it is, OK, the thing what I want to enjoy, the thing that I'm sacrificing, you know, in this case, when I want to click on Instagram and see what what's going on on Instagram. Maybe I get redirected and instead say, you know, say a Hail Mary or something like that. And so so there's a kind of a mix of both. But I'm definitely moving more toward this idea of what is it that I actually enjoy? That's not bad for me. And just just give it up. Just give it up as as a sacrifice and a pale imitation of of of Christ's sacrifice.
JVL00:05:03So Sonny, when you convert eventually, if if I was your spiritual director, which is not not a role that I'm campaigning for. But, you know, just I'm just saying it's there. The offer is on the table. You might consider giving up for Lent. Physical media. Forty days and forty nights. So I could only only you only stream media, but they're on your phone on your phone.
Sonny00:05:34But the no, I'm making I'm making a sacrifice. I'm I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm giving up. I'm giving up not playing video games for Lent. I just ordered I just ordered Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition. And every time I do a fatality, I will do one of the prayer bead things.
JVL00:05:54Wait, hold on. You're giving up not. So you're playing video games, right?
Sonny00:05:59I'm giving up not playing video games right now. I'm not playing video games. I'm giving that up.
JVL00:06:04I'm going to. So is there is there any faith tradition in your household?
Sonny00:06:10Growing up, we went to when I when I was when I was between the ages of I don't know, zero and nine, eight or nine or so. We went to the non-denominational Protestant church on the various Air Force bases that my dad was stationed at. After that, I basically stopped going to church.
JVL00:06:32Well, everybody knows that Air Force people are godless heathens, right? I mean, the Army and Navy and Marines, those are good God-fearing folks.
Sonny00:06:41You can't have God chirping on your shoulder when you're dropping the A-bombs on people. You don't want that. That's right.
JVL00:06:50And does Beth come from any faith tradition?
Sonny00:06:53Yeah, Beth's Catholic. She goes to a local church near us.
JVL00:07:03So I did not know that. And I find that fascinating because, all kidding aside, it means you're coming. You're coming eventually. Oh, definitely.
Sonny00:07:13Honestly, I've always figured that I would eventually convert to Judaism. I always thought that was a pretty cool one. That's right next door, frankly.
Mike00:07:23Yeah.
Sonny00:07:24Well, this is why I would— Chair driveway. We're on the same pipe stem.
JVL00:07:30Exactly.
Sonny00:07:31In Dallas, it's a little harder. Yeah? To become— Which, Judaism or Catholicism?
JVL00:07:37Judaism.
Sonny00:07:38Judaism. Oh.
JVL00:07:40I imagine actually the number of Catholics sort of approaches— More casual anti-Semitism here. Oh, really? Oh, interesting.
Sonny00:07:46More casual—a little more casual about it than in D.C. Shocking. Mike just sent us the poster of the Marvels, by the way, on text message. Yeah. Because— That's what I'm talking about. He's trying to convince us that—
Mike00:08:01To not cut that out and—or maybe you should cut it out.
Sonny00:08:05No, I don't understand. I'm not 100% sure what he's going for here.
Mike00:08:08Mike, do you know what a vagina looks like? You know, it's a mystery to me.
Sonny00:08:13I just thought you were describing the— I just thought you were describing the lovely actresses who were on the— That's an inappropriate thing to do. We don't do that. Certainly not during Lent. Not on this show.
JVL00:08:23So I will—I will tell a Flash story here from fifth grade. So in fifth grade, Flash comes home, and he is in a high state of agitation because something really bad happened at school, but he doesn't want to tell us about it. And so we, you know, we finally settle him down. We're like, "What is it that happened?" He said, "Well, somebody—somebody put something up on the blackboard that is really bad." I said, "Okay, really bad?" He said, "Well, you know, my buddy Kieran and I, we couldn't believe that this happened." And so he eventually—hold on. I'm going to recreate this for you. We convince him to—because he won't say it, but we say he will tell us. He will draw for us what appeared on the blackboard. And what appeared on the blackboard was this, which as you can tell is—I've just scrolled it—is a diamond. Okay. And so he draws the diamond, and my wife and I looked at him and like, "Buddy, I don't understand. What's so bad about that?"
Mike00:09:36And he looks at us.
JVL00:09:37He goes, "It's a vagina." It is. He drew a picture of a vagina. Flash is right. On the blackboard. That is so inappropriate.
Sonny00:09:48Don't show him that poster.
JVL00:09:51Buddy, I don't want to spoil the ride for you, but—
Sonny00:09:55All right, so what are you giving up for Lent, JBL?
JVL00:09:59Yeah, I don't like to talk about that. It's personal? It's too personal? No, because what you do when your father—you don't like the hypocrites who stand out rending their garments. I don't like talking about my Lent.
Mike00:10:13You're going into your inner room, closing the door— I don't like talking about my Lent.
JVL00:10:17But also, the other thing is, whatever you give up, it's never enough. That's true. Whatever you give up, you then meet somebody, and you're like, "Yeah, I'm really huffing it this year." And then somebody's like, "Yes, I've given up the use of a car. I'm going to be walking 11 miles a day." You're like, "Great." Another 50,000 years in purgatory for me. So whatever I'm giving up is clearly inadequate, and I feel guilty about it. And that's the Catholic way.
Sonny00:10:50Wait, if you don't give up enough, you get more punishment in purgatory? You get more time there? Your purgatory is reduced.
JVL00:10:59I don't want to sell the faith to you this hard, Sonny. But there are ways to cut your time in purgatory.
Sonny00:11:07Well, I know. That's why you give money.
JVL00:11:09Indulgences and—
Sonny00:11:11That's why you pay money to the church. That's the profit that you get for the money that you give to God.
JVL00:11:16That's right. That's why Catholicism is really right up your alley. Right? It truly is.
Sonny00:11:25And it does have the original—it has the original physical media. The Bible.
JVL00:11:33I thought you were going in a different direction. So did I. So did I, JBL.
Sonny00:11:37What did you think I was going with that?
JVL00:11:38Relics. The true cross. I thought you were going with the true cross.
Sonny00:11:41Oh, right. Relics. Right. Pieces—I want—well, I mean, obviously I have like four fingers in my house just lying around.
Mike00:11:47You're already there, Sonny. You're already there.
Sonny00:11:50Stole out of tombs. Get him into an RCIA class. When I was in the Moslem lands.
JVL00:11:56Oh, Father Anthony, this guy is ripe for you. He's ripe. I'm sure it's fine.
?00:12:08you
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