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| Solemnities of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. John the Baptist |
This Friday, June 24, 2022 – is a double-solemnity! The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Solemnity; The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Solemnity. This is also the final "Cheeseburger Friday" of this liturgical year.
This is a great opportunity, for those of you who abstain from meat on ALL FRIDAYS of the year, not just during Lent (per Canon Law 1251) and have friends and family who are aware of your abstinence - and they see you eating a cheeseburger (or steak, or chicken, or pork, etc.) and they question you about it. "Why are you eating meat today, it's Friday!" This opens the door for you to explain the fact that this Friday is not just *A* solemnity, but a *DOUBLE* solemnity - and on *ANY* solemnity it is treated like a Sunday (all Sundays are like "little Easters") and there is no fasting or penance (like abstinence) on Sundays *OR* solemnities. As mentioned earlier, this is the final "Cheeseburger Friday" for this liturgical year.This may also lead to the discussion of why you abstain from meat on Fridays, throughout the year. Your answer can be "Just like every Sunday is a 'little Easter' - every Friday is like a 'little Good Friday' when we remember the day our Lord died for our sins. Every time we would have had that piece of meat on a Friday, we should make a little meditation on *WHY* we are not eating meat - and it is to recall the Passion and Death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Now, while it is true - one does not *HAVE* to abstain from meat on all Fridays - *BUT* - you *MUST* do something equivalent, be it abstaining from something else *OR* participating in one of the Corporal Works of Mercy (see below). That said, you should remain consistent in what your regular Friday penance is. Again, this is part of what is said in Canon 1251 of Canon Law (see below). This canon is still in force for all non-Eastern rite Catholics - so we are ALL obliged to obey this under the penalty of mortal sin.
Since we all HAVE to do this and it must be something equivalent to meat - why not just stick with meat?! Having fish-fries on Fridays is like a Catholic identity! Help bring it back! Share this with your friends!
So what is different about Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent as opposed to ALL Fridays throughout the year? On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday during Lent we are to abstain from meat (and it HAS to be abstinence from meat during Lent, no alternatives) AND fast (one full meal plus two smaller snacks which, if combined, do not add up to a full meal). On the rest of the Friday of Lent and Fridays throughout the year it is only abstinence, not fasting. Again, see Canon 1251 (below).
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