In Catholic tradition, the faithful have been required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, sometimes earning us something of a reputation as “fish-eaters”. Now, whilst fish is undoubtedly a good, wholesome food, it has too often come to be regarded that simply having fish and chips on a Friday was enough.
Rather than just doing something for the sake of it – and the same applies to giving something up for Lent – it is far better to do something positive, like
- making an effort to attend Mass,
- making a good Confession,
- praying for the intentions of the Bishops, Priests and people of the Church (certainly on successive First Fridays); or
- going out of your way to show some Christian kindness to somebody.
Perhaps there is some good work you could do quietly – the old lady or gentleman next door, perhaps they need some help with shopping, or they might like to go to Church, or would perhaps just like some company for a while.
