Friday Fasts and Such

On the Friday before Easter (Good Friday), the Catholic Church publically observes the death of Jesus on the Cross.  It is because of this Friday observance that the Church gives special significance to every Friday; it is as if every Friday is a "Little Good Friday."

Each Friday, the Catholic is invited to enter into the mystery of the death of Christ by giving something up, and thereby to unite their own little "suffering" to the suffering of Christ. In the United States, the bishops have allowed Catholics to choose what they are to give up, but the bishops of the United Kingdom have again mandated traditional abstinence from meat on all Fridays.  When the person abstains or fasts on Friday, he or she is following in the footsteps of St. Paul, who wrote "in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the Church" (Colossians 1:24).  Not, of course, that Jesus' suffering "isn't enough," but by abstaining from something that the person regularly enjoys, he or she is engaging in a prayer that is prayed by the person's whole being: body, and soul.  When fasting or abstaining, the person enters the Cathedral of Time; if the person stops overtly praying and goes on to other things, his or her body will continue to pray because of the union of the minor sufferings with the suffering of Christ.  The entire day, then, will be filled with a deep and meaningful prayer, where body and soul continue to cry out "Hear the voice of my pleading as I call for help, as I life up my hands in prayer to your holy place" (Psalm 28:3). 

That is the beauty of fasting and abstinence; it is a personal and powerful encounter with the sufferings of Christ.  The United States Bishops have recently called faithful Catholics to pray in a special way for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty, and one thing they recommend is that Catholics voluntarily abstain from meat or fast on Fridays.  This is a terrific opportunity to begin a regular observence of "Little Good Fridays" throughout the year.  The doors of the Cathedral of Time are open.