official rule<\/a> or canon law binding us to eat only simple meals, but it would probably not be in the spirit of Lent to eat too much or too fancy on a Friday.<\/p>\nWhat about Friday outside of Lent?<\/strong><\/p>\nIn the tradition of the Church, we are to abstain from meat on all Fridays throughout the year, unless they are a major feast day, solemnity, or within the celebration of an octave (like Easter or Christmas). This means we could eat meat on Friday if the Solemnity of the Annunciation falls on a Friday.<\/p>\n
Outside of Lent the obligation of penance and sacrifice is not lifted, but the council of bishops has given us the option of how to apply it in our lives. You could give up meat on Friday, but you are also free to make another sacrifice such as fasting or other penance.<\/p>\n
![\"1302970_everybody_have_their_cross_to_carry_\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1302970_everybody_have_their_cross_to_carry_.jpg?resize=300%2C200\")
<\/p>\n
Lent is not meant to be easy. Remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Don’t worry, you’re not in this alone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019re like me, you find meat tasty. Here in Texas, we love our steaks, burgers, and BBQ. If you haven\u2019t seen the popular HEB commercial, it shows that most Texans would have a cookout every meal if we could. It isn\u2019t far from the truth. Let\u2019s talk a little more about this thing we… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[1526,591,1525,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-38655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"tag-fridays","8":"tag-lent","9":"tag-meat","10":"tag-sacrifice","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36292,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/5-common-misconceptions-about-ash-wednesday\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":0},"title":"5 Common Misconceptions About Ash Wednesday","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"February 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Ash Wednesday not only marks the beginning of the season of Lent, it is also a time when Catholic new media takes center stage, albeit not in the most obvious ways. This is because Ash Wednesday masses are some of the most attended all year, and most of those mass\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5CommonMisconceptionsAboutAshWednesday","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/5CommonMisconceptionsAboutAshWednesday-630x484.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44563,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/slipping-lent-questions-lenten-sacrifices\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":1},"title":"Slipping Up in Lent – Questions about Lenten Sacrifices","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When we start Lent with a day like Ash Wednesday, it sets a somewhat somber tone for the season. This is a season of sacrifice, penance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Definitely sounds like a no-fun zone. Thinking about doing something that makes you happy? Save it for Easter!\u00a0This is at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Questions About Lenten Sacrifices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/QuestionsAboutLentenSacrifices-630x419.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44247,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/fast-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":2},"title":"Why do we fast during Lent?","author":"Maria Salazar","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Lent is now upon us and it will soon be time for fasting and abstaining from meat.\u00a0 Why do we do these things and why is it necessary to fast in our spiritual life? A few days ago I was in line for confession and ended up staring at and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"tumblr_mtavhdvESW1st5lhmo1_1280","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/tumblr_mtavhdvESW1st5lhmo1_1280-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13018,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/fish-fry-fridays\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":3},"title":"Fish Fry Fridays","author":"Elizabeth","date":"March 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This Lenten season is filled with extra efforts. You choose to give something up or you choose to add some activity to enrich your spiritual life whether it be making an effort to go to Daily Mass, going to Stations of the Cross or celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation. While\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7207\/6974561175_52f71b1c41.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":216827,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/like-a-runaway-train\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":4},"title":"Like A Runaway Train","author":"Robert Lindberg","date":"February 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So, my last couple of Lents have been, lack luster, so to say. I mean I went through the motions and all that but have just had the sense that I could do more \/ better. A couple of weeks before Lent this year, I started praying and planning how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"LindbergTrain","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/LindbergTrain.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/LindbergTrain.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/LindbergTrain.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44278,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/lent-40-days-40-ways\/","url_meta":{"origin":38655,"position":5},"title":"Lent: 40 Days and 40 Ways","author":"Lauren Gulde","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year I try to approach Lent anew. I don't want it to ever grow old. Lent holds a dear place in my heart, as it always reminds me of the days that brought me up to my joining the Catholic Church in 1994. Those emotional memories are strong, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"lent 40 days and 40 ways","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/lent40daysand40ways.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Meat](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/FRIDAYMEAT-630x472.jpg?resize=441%2C330\")
<\/p>\n