Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah 38:1-6.21-22.7-8; Matthew 12:1-8)
Not long ago, a group of Catholics, both young and old, were
talking together. Someone mentioned the
old practice of abstinence from meat under pain of mortal sin every Friday,
like the Church still insists upon during Lent.
The younger people seemed to be amused by the idea. How could eating meat on any day Friday, then
or now, be considered a mortal sin?
Certainly, eating meat on Friday is Church, not Divine, Law. The question become, does Church leadership
have authority to impose binding obligations on people? Bishops
have a responsibility not only of sanctifying their people but also of
evangelizing others. Given the “keys to
the Kingdom,” they can bind people to penitential actions like abstaining from
meat. It is a simple demonstration of our
living for God and not to satisfy our appetites. For this reason, when Catholics publicly defer
from eating meat, they indicate to others their love for God.
We should be aware that although abstinence from meat on
Fridays outside of Lent is no longer required, Catholics are still obliged to
do penance on Fridays. As in Jesus’
citing of the prophet Isaiah in today’s gospel, an act of mercy will more than
suffice for this penance. It would be
good to see nursing homes or prisons filled with visitors on Fridays trying to
carry out their penitential obligation.
