In the popular imagination, Mardi Gras is synonymous with New Orleans — lavish parades, lots of beads, inebriation, and the like. But it's a far more complex celebration.

Mardi Gras — literally Fat Tuesday — is the last day before the beginning of Lent. Lent is the period set aside in many Christian calendars as a time to focus on adhering more closely to a holy path, preparing for the great and joyous celebration of Easter.

Three penitential practices are tied closely to Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Mardi Gras is tied most closely to the fasting. At one time, the Lenten fast permitted only one meal each day – after sunset. That meal could include no meat, dairy, oil, or wine. Thus, Mardi Gras was the last chance to use up supplies of those things that would go bad during Lent. Hence, traditional Mardi Gras foods like pancakes and fasnachts that use up butter and oil.

In other cultures, today is called Carnival, from the Latin words meaning "farewell to meat." With the exception of two solemnities that typically fall during Lent, meat would not be eaten until Easter when a new lamb or the hams set to smoke last fall would form the centerpiece of the meal.

So, go off and enjoy, but remember: today isalso called Shrove Tuesday (from the word shriven, meaning to be absolved of sin). It is a time of honest self-reflection to decide what about yourself you need to change, what things you need to let go, and how you can become a more generous and loving person.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!