Robin Goldbeck, a self-employed Fresno architect, works on her laptop computer in her home. She is giving up Facebook for Lent because she wants to be more productive with her time.

FRESNO, Calif. — Once upon a time, people gave up food for Lent — usually something they needed to cut back on like sweets.

These days, people are vowing to give up Facebook.

It makes sense, says Lisa Hendey, webmaster at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Fresno, Calif.’s largest Roman Catholic congregation.

“In the past, it might have been giving up the extras, like chocolate or TV, but Facebook has become such a big part of people’s daily lives they’re contemplating giving it up, praying about it and discussing it.”

Hendey, who also has her own website lisahendey.com that appeals to Catholic moms and provides links to her Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter pages, says she’s thought about giving up social media but isn’t ready to take the plunge.

“It’s a large part of the way I do my work,” she says. “I likely will not give it up, but I will cut back on my use of it, especially Sundays, during the season of Lent.”

Lent is the period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter, observed by some Christian churches with fasting, penitence, prayer and self-denial. The aim is for parishioners to make sacrifices as they spiritually prepare for Easter, moving closer to God. This year, Ash Wednesday is March 9. Easter is April 24.

Deciding what to give up for Lent isn’t an easy choice. Pastors suggest people should consider what’s valuable to them, and that includes their time.

Dan Hues, associate pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in northwest Fresno, says many people are questioning the amount of time they spend on Facebook.

“Facebook is huge,” he says. “It’s blown up to be almost ubiquitous. It’s almost compulsive; that’s why it makes sense to give it up for Lent.

“The whole point of Lent is a time at getting closer to God. The point is to leave selfish behavior behind you, to put off the ‘self.’ Facebook is almost a shrine to yourself, with pictures, status updates, seeing if people ‘like’ you. It’s all about you.”

Facebook has more than 500 million active users, with about 50 percent logging in any given day. People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Robin Goldbeck, a self-employed Fresno residential architect and member of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, is giving up Facebook for Lent.

She uses the Internet all the time at her office, researching manufacturers’ websites for specifications related to her work. She decided to go on Facebook when she wanted to relax in the evenings.

It started out to be a “purely social” thing. Goldbeck enjoyed reading friends’ posts about themselves and their children.

“It’s like Christmas cards all day long,” she says.

Evenings weren’t enough after awhile. “The first thing in the morning, I wanted to see what happened overnight,” she says.

Then, she checked during the middle of work projects: “I’d say, “I’ll just check Facebook right now.”

Goldbeck says she knew she was overdoing it.

“I’m ready for a break,” she says. “I want to take stock of what Facebook is or isn’t contributing overall.”

Roy Guzman, director of English Youth Ministry at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Fresno, says it is important that parishioners pick something they can give up that’s keeping them from getting closer to God.