An interesting read: check out some of the suggestions offered on Google for Shrove Tuesday and Carnival time.
Let me present a picture of the structure offered to us in the Season of Lent and its purpose.
Part One: Ash Wednesday through Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
1. The Gospel readings are taken from the "Synoptics" Matthew, Mark and Luke
a. the message of the chosen "pericopes" is "a call to conversion" (clearly moral texts)
i. beginning anew; o fasting, prayer and alms giving; of conversion; of mutual forgiveness; of hardness of heart; of love of enemies; of absolute claims of justice and love over ritual and cult; of the call to holiness. Even the salvation stories of the call of Naaman or the workers in the vineyard are put before you as examples of calls to conversion.
Part Two: Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent forward.
1. The Gospel readings are taken from St John's gospel (not a synoptic writer)
a. The chosen pericopes are focused upon the mystery of Jesus Christ and his promise that all who believe in him will have eternal life
i. Christ is presented as the healer, the life-giver; he is seen as the one who gives life by confronting death; and he gathers into one the scattered children of God.
What do these two parts teach about the spirit of lent?
(1) The first part of Lent bring you to compunction ( a word related tot he words "puncture." These readings suggest a deflation of inflated egos, a challenge to any self-deceit about the quality of your life as a follower, a believer, of Jesus Christ.
(2) The gospel selections have a planned purpose: to trouble your spirit, to confront your illusions about yourself, to bring home to you your radical need of salvation.
(3) The movement inf John's gospel in the second part of Lent is designed for you to realize that Jesus can only save those who know their need for salvation.
All of the above has been "borrowed" from the"Ordo" prepared for the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington. In the Ordo it is noted that the information has been taken from "The Season of Lent" by Mark Seale in Assembly, Vol 8:3, produced by The Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, Notre Dame, Indiana.
PRACTICAL NOTES:
* The season of Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive on Holy Thursday with the Sacred Triduum (3 days) begins and concludes with Evening Prayer of Easter Sunday.
** FASTING: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting for all Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59. The call to fasting is for a "modified fasting," that is, one full meal on each of these days.
*** ABSTINENCE: All Catholics between the ages of 14 and older are called to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during the season of Lent.
