Modesty

[MariaRegina]

There may be cases when the law of love supercedes regular governmental law; yes, we must try to follow it at all times, but there may be exceptions, in my mind. For example, if there is a Priest who needs to speed because of a dying person who needs Extreme Unction, or maybe if you are late for work for no fault of your own.

I think there are moral principles involved which could influence the gravity of this.

Wait until you are a father and your wife is saying that the baby is about to be delivered!

When I was pregnant many years ago, my husband did speed a little even though I told him that the birth was not eminent. What does a woman know anyway?

 

[Maggie893]

I think we have to avoid scrupulosity also.

Once I was in a torrential downpour during an El Nino year.

The cars ahead of me on the freeway were obviously very timid drivers who were afraid of rain, so they were all driving in close caravans (tailgating each other). I knew that this was a dangerous situation, so I had two choices:

Increase my speed to get around the caravan by going over to the fast lane to the left.

Stay in the slow lane on the right and possibly suffer an accident.

In California, the traffic seems to move too slow (dangerous) or too fast (extremely dangerous). There seems to be no other choices offered. And now we have road rage and drive by shooters. Pray for us.

I chose to increase my speed and moved into the fast lane with all the speed demons.

As we passed several slow caravans, we heard the news that there was a horrible pileup involving those caravans. BTW: the local airport and many roads were flooded.

My son was kept busy praying the Jesus Prayer beside me as I drove. My husband was also praying for me at home and was very worried because of the many reports of traffic accidents occurring on the same route that I had chosen.

Well I certainly agree that what speed should be driven in inclement weather is completely subjective. When my tires are bald I'm much slower than when they are new. The decision you made seemed to be the right one but both choices could have resulted in an accident. Unless you were being completely ridiculous (like some truckers I've seen) I doubt a policeofficer would consider that reckless driving.

I was mainly just focusing on the obvious speeding issue; weather's fine and I'm late or just plain feeling like speed.

 

[lonnienord]

I don't think Mardi Gras is an official Catholic holiday

 

[geocajun]

Mardi Gras is a Cajun holiday, not a Catholic holiday

 

[Ave Maria]

Mardi Gras is a Cajun holiday, not a Catholic holiday

I always heard it was a Catholic holiday.

 

[geocajun]

I always heard it was a Catholic holiday.

its a cajun catholic cultural celebration - the date of mardi gras (fat tuesday) is determined by the date of ash wednesday.

 

[Axion]

Mardi Gras is just a popular name in French-speaking countries for the last day of the Carnival season. It literally translates to Fat Tuesday. In England the Day is known as Shrove Tuesday, and celebrated with the eating of Pancakes.

Carnival is an unofficial festival that is an offshoot of the Catholic year. In preparation for lent when the eating of meat, eggs and fat of any kind was forbidden, all these rich foods that remained were eaten in a series of feasts which gradually evolved into Carnival.

Carnival also gathered in other traditions such as a reversal of roles (men acting as women, masters waiting on their servants,), the wearing of fancy dress, and the idea that no-one could refuse to participate in the fun.

The final day of carnival, (Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday, is the peak of Carnival festivities in most Carnival Countries. (In Carnival-celebrating parts of Germany, Rose Monday is the chief day). Officially, behaviour on this day should not be sinful, but good clean fun. Just as behaviour at Christmas should not be sinful. However Carnival was generally more tolerated by the Church than encouraged, and excesses were always condemned. Most protestant countries outlawed carnival at the Reformation. In England, remnants like pancake eating and sporting events survived, but the partying went.

Nice, france

Venice

Rio

Carnival can be very enjoyable community fun.

However, in many places other groups have stepped in to purloin the idea of Carnival. In Rio, secular groups in the City council have used Carnival to promote condoms. Many gay groups have taken the idea of "Carnival" for their own celebration parades, particularly in Australia. In the UK west Indian "carnivals" are held, divorced from the Church year in Summer.

 

[Lifesaver]

It is not a Catholic holiday if it is what I'm thinking.
In Brazil we have one called Carnaval, just before Lent.
Since we are entering days of penitence and restraint, people celebrate the pleasures of the flesh as much as they can. Carnaval has become a scandalous procession of sin and vice.

These holidays are popular in traditionally Catholic countries or regions, where Lent is observed.

In 1940, Sister Lucia (one of the children of the Fatima apparitions) wrote to the patriarch Cardinal of Lisbon that God was very discontent with the sinful life of people, and that He wished that the "profane parties in the days of Carnaval" would be abolished and substituted by public prayers.
In short, according to Sister Lucia, God was offended by the Carnaval of Portugal in the 40s. What to say of the Carnaval in Rio or New Orleans today!

Anyway, these celebrations date from long ago, and came from Europe, particularly in Venice. I personally think there is nothing wrong in enjoying oneself before Lent without any sinfulness, but it is very obvious that these celebrations today are completely sinful and shameful; sex, drugs, drunkeness, excess of everything; this is what characterizes them and atracts so many people.

So, if Mardi Gras is anything like Carnaval, and from what I've seen in films it seems to be, it is not a Church holiday, but rather a popular tradition in Catholic places, in itself fun and harmless, but which has become crescently unCatholic with times.

 

[Lifesaver]

Carnival can be very enjoyable community fun.

However, in many places other groups have stepped in to purloin the idea of Carnival. In Rio, secular groups in the City council have used Carnival to promote condoms. Many gay groups have taken the idea of "Carnival" for their own celebration parades, particularly in Australia. In the UK west Indian "carnivals" are held, divorced from the Church year in Summer.

That is all true, except for this bit which makes it seem that Carnaval in Rio is generally good but has some "secular influences". Nowadays, it is mostly a Pagan sensualist festival of sin, especially lust. Its main attraction are the female celebrities who'll parade naked.
The school which did their samba anout the condom was not an exception among other ones which uphold Catholic values; it was completely at home and upholding the values which have become synonyms with the traditional celebration here.

 

[MariaRegina]

Well I certainly agree that what speed should be driven in inclement weather is completely subjective. When my tires are bald I'm much slower than when they are new. The decision you made seemed to be the right one but both choices could have resulted in an accident. Unless you were being completely ridiculous (like some truckers I've seen) I doubt a policeofficer would consider that reckless driving.

I was mainly just focusing on the obvious speeding issue; weather's fine and I'm late or just plain feeling like speed.

Here in California everybody is in a hurry to go nowhere quickly. Just speeding for the sheer pleasure of feeling their hair in the wind. However, people are being killed daily in automobile accidents because someone just had to make that light before it turned red.

A professor with a Ph.D. from England (who just happens to be an Italian Catholic) told us that there is an area in the brain for pleasure. And everytime we just make a light before it turns red, we get a dose of adrenalin - a dose of pleasure that gives us a high. This is classic conditioning so that we want that pleasure more and more. Each time we try to make it through the intersection by the skin of our teeth, we take more and more chances to get that high, until the day we are caught by a police officer or kill someone who is in the intersection because we cannot stop in time.

If you look at it in that light, speeding is not so innocent.

Temperance, from which the virtue of modesty is derived, is a virtue that encourages us to practice self-control.