The Danger of Profaning Our Lord
Fish Fry or Way of the Cross, or......Both?
Photo By: Flickr/ Dennis Jarvis
It's Friday and it's Lent, which means on the day our Lord suffered so incredibly and in respect and mortification for that event Catholics are called to abstain from meat, in deference to the flesh sacrifice our Lord offered up, the partying and socializing of fish fries have risen!
These events that have become almost ritualistic for some Catholics and Catholic schools in particular seem too lack in many circumstances any appreciation or recognition for what Fridays in Lent are all about. The trivialization of our Faith is quite alarming to me. Many parishes offer the Way of the Cross Liturgy on the Fridays of Lent, and many times these two events are taking place in close proximity to each other. You can hear the raucous laughter and jovial mood of the fish fry while sitting and preparing to enter into the passion and death of our Lord in may cases. It is really quite interesting.
As I waiting for the Stations to start, and tried to focus and meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, I watched and heard the clatter and chatter from on the other side of the wall. Unfortunate souls who evidently didn't have any realization of the magnitude of solemnity many were submerging themselves in just a few feet away. I found it fascinating, sad, and quite tragic really.
So many who attend and work these fish fry events seem to disregard the reason for the event in the first place. We definitely have some work to do. There seems to be a prime and magnificent opportunity for evangelization at these events, that gets lost in the rush and the noise. Is the opportunity ignored and sacrificed in an effort to not offend? Or is it out of just slothfulness? How difficult would it be to celebrate Saints at various tables, have prayer cards and informational packets available. Maybe even a screen with information about Parish Faith Formation events? An invocation? Invitations to Mass? Parishioners walking around and working the crowd? Lots of effort, you bet; would it bear any fruit? I'm not sure. It is worth the energy? Absolutely!
Life is messy, isn't it? Just as we sit and reflect and immerse ourselves in our Lord and Savior only feet from those who have no clue about the beauty of this mystery as they fry fish and celebrate the start to their weekend, we walk daily at work, school, the grocery store, with those same people. People who are thirty and hungry for Truth and don't even know it. Are we missing our chances with all of them as well? Are we sacrificing conversions for convenience? I don't know, really. I am presuming we all do this, every day. It just seems to be magnified this time of year, because at that Easter Vigil Mass, we could maybe have twice the amount of people entering our Church, if only we had reached out and unveiled the unraveling of the Stations amid the frying of fish.
About the Author
I am a 57 year old, wife and mother of two grown sons. I am Cradle Catholic and experienced a reversion to the faith several year ago that moved me to dive more deeply into an understanding of the church and it’s doctrines and dogmas. The more I read, and discover, the deeper my love of the Catholic Church and her teachings becomes.
I become the Executive Director of a very active and busy Crisis Pregnancy Center on the West side of Cincinnati in October 2021. God is so good and answers prayers even though He knows at times, we have no idea what we are asking for. I left this job a few days ago, after having my heart broken and idea of working for a Catholic institution disallusioned. I am so honored and humbled to have had the experience to serve women and the unborn in this capacity! I am also very grateful for God, allowing me to see for myself, that perhaps such a calling was not His long term plan for me. Perhapos returning to Catholic 365 is more to his liking and fits more into his plan for me. I hopefully can once again be more active with content to this wonderful website.
I live in Cincinnati, Ohio where I attended the same parochial grade school and public high school that my two boys attend. I sang in the choir for 35 years and have also been a cantor. I recently left singing in church because i found it to be a grave distraction to the awesome significance of the Liturgy. I haven't looked back, and love the Mass now more than ever! I have been a past member of the Education Commission and have devoted many hours to the well being of St. Ann Church and School (now Our Lady of Grace).
I look forwad to being back and submitting more articles and content. I love being able to share my faith and use this platform as a way to express my deep love and devotion to our Lord. We need each other, and what a wonderful way to connect with others!
