Sigh! Saint Patrick's Day Will Be Mocked And Trivialized Again!

How, you ask?  Well it falls on a Lenten Friday, and bishops are already giving dispensations for the eating of meat on that day - in honor of St Patrick!  Of course! 

Whom do they think they're fooling?  Why, Lent hasn't even begun and already three area dioceses have issued decrees for the dispensation.  Hey!  If the bishops can dispense a Lenten penance for childish reason, why can they not exercise that same episcopal discretion and grant greater liberality for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass?  Oh, wait!  They'll only do that for the diminishing of piety, not its increase.  See how that works?

How will you really honor St Patrick on his feast day?

Many Catholics Will Dishonor St Patrick This Friday

In way of review, please re-read my post from six years ago.  This year, St. Patrick's Day falls on a Lenten Friday, a day when we Catholics abstain from meat.  Yet even now we hear of Catholics asking for dispensation from the already-lenient Lenten discipline to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Sadly - because many chanceries care not one whit about Lenten discipline nor even of eternal things in general, these chanceries will grant the dispensations without a minute's thought.

As I said in the post, I myself am of predominantly Irish descent.  Moreover, I grew up in the 1960s, when most Catholics were also of Irish descent and who were closely descended from Irish immigrants.  Yet never did I hear the slightest hint of suggestion that the Lenten practises should be set aside when March 17 fell on a Lenten Friday.  In fact, that was during a time when every day during Lent (not just Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) was a day of fast.  It is true that in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a Holy Day of Obligation, owing to St Patrick's pivotal role in the founding of their nation.  But those who came to the United States understood that they were leaving behind their national customs and were prepared to observe the customs of their new homeland.

On social media, particularly facebook, I'm seeing otherwise faithful Catholics chortle over the dispensations, like naughty little children about to get away with extra dessert.  To me that betrays a bit of reluctance to subject oneself to necessary disciplines.  How they salivate over corned beef has nothing to do with honoring the saint who is at least partially responsible for their Faith and more to do with satisfying their taste buds and stomachs.

We can - we must - do better than that.  Honor St. Patrick by honoring Lent.  Abstain from meat, dispensation notwithstanding.  Do not drink to the point of sinful intoxication (yes, all intoxication is sinful).  Do not trifle with leprechauns and other accoutrements of pagan practice.  Understand that there is nothing special about the color green.  Instead, go to Mass, pray a Rosary and/or stations of the Cross - practices that would truly please St. Patrick.

Mardi Gras - A Diabolical Insult To The Holy Season Of Lent

Next Wednesday, Feb 10, is Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent.  Already on social sites we are seeing reminders and reflections regarding this sacred time of penitence and preparation for Easter.  Of course I frequent the Catholic circles in Facebook and other venues.  That said, I was quite taken aback when I saw the picture on the right.

It reminded me of a homily that I heard at least 10 years ago at my church on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday (known as Quinquagesima Sunday in the Extraordinary Rite).  It was excellent.  Father stated that there were mistakes that Catholics often made in their approach to Lent.  He said the first mistake is called "mardi gras".  He said it was indicative of the attitudes of too many Catholics towards the remedial disciplines of Lent: that they saw Lent as a time to be accepted with, at best, a begrudging acceptance as opposed to gratitude.  Such people are, at heart, willfully attached to their pleasures and comforts.  They tend to not take seriously their eternal destinies, seeing little need to prepare for death, judgment and either heaven or hell.  Hence they observe Lent grudgingly, often lamenting the temporary reduction of pleasures.

Another time when I've seen such attitudes is when St. Patrick's Day has fallen on a Lenten Friday.  Hankering for their meat on Friday (as if there weren't 6 other days of the week), they've often petitioned their bishops for dispensation from the lenten practice on those Fridays.  All too often, the bishops themselves don't take lent seriously so they blithely let them have their way.  When that happened one year, I might have thought they were acting like naughty children who had gotten permission to raid the cookie jar at will; their gloating was that ridiculous to behold.

Take a look at the language in the picture.  Leaving aside the sloppy grammar, what we see here is an insult to faithful Catholics - and to the holy season of Lent.  It is an illustration of the careless Catholic who accepts Lent only with resentment.  The person in the picture has made himelf into a disgusting slob.  That is indeed what happens when one does not approach Catholic life and discipline with the reverence that it deserves.  One one takes a cavalier, jocular attitude towards the provisions that the Church has provided for our salvation, we degrade ourselves.

The Catholic writing this post will not align herself with the nod to gluttony suggested in this meme.  I trust many of you are like-minded.