LOL @ Nita:
Kind of like, "you can't have beer"...."here drink this $150 bottle of Dom instead we are being pennitent(sp)".That reminded me of my ex husband who would give up smoking pot and drinking beer for Lent but would smoke hash and drink hard liquor instead.
That's why I tell my kids to do something good for someone instead of giving something up.
I also remember how stupid I thought the nuns were. They would make me feel guilty because I wanted to grow up and get married and not be a nun.
The way the older generation Catholics were *in practice* is probably one of the things that drove me away. But now I appreciate all the things they *didn't* teach me because they were too busy being dogmatic.