By Mary Cuff, Crisis Magazine - Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or whatever you call it, has largely turned into a festival of excess. But it used to serve a very practical, even economical and worthy purpose. Today, most Catholics follow the guidelines set forth in the most recent revision of Canon Law, and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, all other Fridays in Lent … and that’s it. But it makes very little sense to eat a giant feast on Fat Tuesday.....