Bishop allows Las Vegas Catholics observing Lent to eat meat St. Patrick’s Day
Southern Nevada Catholics will have something extra to celebrate on Friday, St. Patrick’s Day — a traditional Irish-American dinner, if they choose.
That’s because Bishop Joseph Pepe of the Diocese of Las Vegas has suspended, for St. Patrick’s Day only, the obligation for locals to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent.
Lent is the period of prayer and penance that begins Ash Wednesday and ends just before Easter, and Catholics are obligated to avoid meat on Fridays during that period. Pepe’s dispensation means the faithful can dine on corned beef and cabbage or any other meat-laden dish.
The last time St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Lenten Friday was in 2006. Bishops elsewhere have lifted the no-meat mandate when the holiday has fallen on a Friday, especially in dioceses such as Boston that are home to large populations of Catholics of Irish descent.
But the Irish dinner you’ll enjoy on Friday won’t be a complete spiritual freebie. Bishops who suspend therequirement also usually ask or require that Catholics who take advantage of it abstain from meat on another day or perform another act of penance in its place.
“We recognize that this is a popular feast day celebrating St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, which has a close cultural identity for many of our faithful,” Pepe said in a statement. “However, we would encourage those who choose to partake in traditional celebratory meals and eat meat this Friday to pick another day to abstain.”
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Why do Catholics fast and abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent?
Through fasting and self-denial and "by living lives of moderation, we have more energy to devote to God's purpose and a better self-esteem that helps us to be more concerned with the well-being of others," writes Bishop Joseph Pepe in a letter posted on the Diocese of Las Vegas' website (dioceseoflasvegas.org). "Voluntary fasting from food creates in us a greater openness to God's Spirit and deepens our compassion for those who are forced to go without food."
