Just saw a notice that our local bishop, Cardinal Cupich, has waived the no-meat-on-Fridays-during-Lent rule for this coming Friday, March 19. This is in observance of St. Joseph's Day, which is a Solemnity (highest-ranking category of saints' days) on the universal church calendar and so supersedes the normally penitential Friday of Lent.
I confess that I don't suffer too much by not consuming protein on a few Fridays each year. For one thing, I probably consume more meat throughout the rest of the year than some developing-world villages do, and almost certainly more than is good for me. Also, my wife and I are sufficiently proficient in the kitchen (not to mention being blessed with ample carry-in options) that we have many (usually) tasty and (mostly) nutritious alternatives which don't run afoul of church rules. If anything, Fridays during Lent become a nice change of pace.
If that last observation strikes you as not exactly harmonious with the penitential intent of the season, I can only say you're not wrong. But there is a certain spirituality in which we observe these dietary laws out of simple fidelity to the law, because fidelity to the law is a good thing, and perhaps that is enough. Still: unreflective fidelity to the Law was the kind of thing for which Jesus slammed Pharisees in Mark's Gospel. So maybe we can do better. Starting a week from Friday. For this Friday: something Italian (-American): maybe some Chicken Parmesan...
Actually this Lent I have been observing both Tuesdays and Fridays as days of abstinence from meat. Of course since I have a residential vegetarian chef this year, I have very ample vegetable protein on those days.
ReplyDeleteAs for this Friday, I have no idea what our local bishop is saying or doing (since he is new, I don't even remember his name). Since my middle name is Joseph, I could presume I have a personal dispensation in regard to meat. However the refrigerator is currently well stocked with vegetable protein, I was told this morning that more will be on the way today. So I won't be getting any more animal protein out of the freezer.
The gardening season has begun here. I have two fifty foot long fences for peas already prepared. Our peas are already sprouting downstairs under the grow light; we expect to begin hardening them off on the porch in a few days. We are doing them in pea pots; a YouTube gardener has demonstrated how to carefully plant them so as not to disturb the growing roots. Besides getting a start on the growing season we will avoid the chipmunks who presume we are setting out a tasty meal of seeds for them.
The Italian Americans (and maybe in the old country too) are big on St. Joseph. They have some filled cream puffs that are really good. But I'm not going to make them because they're a lot of work. And more calories than I need.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting, and appropriate, that the pope has made this the "year of St. Joseph". His was a ministry of service. He doesn't have any direct speaking lines in the Gospels. But he shows up and does some pretty heavy lifting.
Father announced last weekend that the parish would be getting a statue of St. Joseph, because someone had left a bequest for that purpose. Somehow we hadn't had one before, even though there are a bunch of other saint statues.
Yesterday of course was the day of the Irish, St. Patrick's feast. We wore green all day; my husband is pretty much all Irish, and my mom's family were Scots Irish. The "orange and the green", I guess.