So it's Friday and it's Lent and that means no meat today. But what does that mean? What are we really giving up by eating delicious seafood dishes instead of meat? I choose to focus on the act itself. What we are supposed to be trying to do is emulate Jesus and the suffering that he endured for us. We are reminded of his suffering by participating in another Friday Lenten tradition, the Way of the Cross. Jesus suffered at the hands of his captors repeatedly during his passion and he still suffers because of the things we continue to do on earth. The different now is that we have his saving grace, which he gives freely and without cost. So the act of refraining from eating meat (or anything else we decided to give up for Lent) is to help us remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us. What a loving gift. It reminds us that God is love and everything Jesus did for us was for love. It reminds us that Jesus asks us to love God above all and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Very simply stated but sometimes hard to accomplish. So maybe not eating meat on Friday is so that you can focus on praying for those you consider your enemy. Maybe the abstinence is for someone who continues to bully you. Maybe it is to remind us that God is sharpening us with these trials. Whatever you are thinking about during your Lenten journey, remember to ask God for guidance. Ask God to keep your focus on the promise of eternal life. The abstinence you practice on Fridays during Lent may lead you to change your lifestyle or give up a bad habit. Now isn't that worth eating seafood on Fridays during Lent?
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...