…has been granted by Bishop Zubik for St. Patrick’s Day since it falls on Friday during lent. Talk about the “luck of the Irish”. Apparently after getting bombarded by people on whether or not he will allow Catholics to partake in meat consumption this Friday he said “after much consideration I have chosen to dispense Catholics from the obligation to abstain from meat on Friday March 17th.” Just to be safe, not to say I question the Bishops judgment, I looked up the rules about dispensation on Friday during Lent and I found this printed in 1995 by the Diocese of Pittsburgh and rule number 4 reads “the obligation of abstinence on Friday during lent will not be considered unless some serious reason is present. The attendance of social events, banquets, wedding rehearsals or receptions are not considered sufficient reasons to request a dispensation.” So there you have it, being denied Corn beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day is serious business. Personally I’d rather have a pepperoni Pizza instead, washed down with green beer of course. But the Bishop did say if you do choose to eat meat this Friday he expects you to do another act of self sacrifice in the spirit of the season of Lent.