For those who do not know Easter is a 50 day season.

[hrmjustin]

40 days that the Lord was on Earth and on Ascension Thursday we celebrate his ascension. 10 days later we celebrate Pentecost which in the Christian calendar is the day the Holy Spirit desended on the followers of Jesus Christ.
A happy greater 50 days to you all!

[cbayer]

1. I never really understood the concept of lent being 40 days, but Sundays not

being counted among them.

Is that right? What does it mean?

[okasha]

2. The forty days of Lent

recapitulate Jesus' forty days of retreat in the desert before beginning his ministry. (A Native American would say he was on a vision quest.) Jesus' retreat in turn reflects the Jewish people's forty years in the Sinai before they were allowed to cross the Jordan into Canaan.

[cbayer]

4. But my question is this - why do they skip Sundays when counting the days?

[hrmjustin]

3. It was designed for people to reflect on their sins, and to prepare adults for Baptism.

People who were apart from the church because of great sins were allowed to do penance during lent and returned to full communion with the church on Easter Sunday. In the modern world it is a time of self reflection and study of our faith and for Christian Formation.
The 40 days do not include Sundays because Sundays are the day of Resurrection and all Masses or Sunday services celebrate this. This also means that if you give up something you can do it on Sunday, however most people are unaware of this loophole.

[cbayer]

5. Aha! It's a loophole, then.

This used to drive me nuts when I was trying to figure out the time between Mardi Gras and Easter, and I never understood how the Sundays could be left out.

Thanks, justin!

[Apophis]

6. What's the point of giving up something if you can do it once a week?

[hrmjustin]

7. Well there is no official rule on what you can or can not do.

Remember that is about what discipline you feel you can do. As I said many people don't realize that Lent is longer than 40 days so there is no issue there.

[goldent]

10. I only recently learned that Sundays were not technically part of lent

but as a good Catholic, if I were to use that loophole I would feel guilty

To be honest, I really doubt that many people use the loophole, unless Sunday is otherwise a particularly difficult challenge (e.g. trying to avoid using the car, but the Church is a long distance and not along a bus route).

[hrmjustin]

11. My friend gives up meat and booze for lent.

So as you can imagine she is not a happy camper during lent. She allows herself to have either meat or booze but never both on sundays. It is what it is. I usually do things instead of giving up something. This past lent was not the same because I had a lot of family issues to deal with but I think I will use the Easter season as a chance to catch up with God.

[okasha]

8. The point is that

you can't do it six days a week.

[cbayer]

9. Lots of people do that when they are trying to change their lifestyles.

People on diets often give themselves one day a week.

So?