But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By His bruises we were healed.- Isaiah 53

In the Tradition of the Holy Catholic Church, Fridays are the day we focus on Christ’s Passion and also for honoring His Sacred Heart. And when praying our rosary, we meditate upon the Sorrowful Mysteries. Traditionally, it was a day of abstaining from meat..(I still remember fish sticks on Fridays, even at my public school,)  Fridays were recognized as penitential days,because Christ’s crucifixion took place on a Friday. It was considered a day to actively recognize our having fallen away from the Lord with our actions; our thoughts, our words,and  our deeds.  

But how the times have changed! Most people nowadays don’t even recognize the penitential aspect of Lent anymore, let alone that each and every Friday should be treated as such! We are a fallen people. Allowing ourselves to enjoy so much that the world has offered us, that we fail to see the truth of our existence. We have penciled in so many other things in our day to day plannings, that we fail to see the Liturgical nature of the calendar. First and foremost, it should be viewed and used as a way of sanctification! Oh, how the Lord loved each of us so much that He created this wondrous Church, The Holy Catholic Church,which developed this calendar of days so that we the faithful would have a guide to help us navigate our earthly days.

But, we our marked and stained by original sin, and our nature reflects as much, so that we tend to take the easy way out. Following the work week calendar, we celebrate our Fridays as the end of the week, failing to see the penitential aspect of the day… failing also to recognize that all of Christ’s faithful are obliged by Divine Law, in his or her own way, to do penance. Instead of engaging in self satisfying actions we should be engaging in works of piety and charity, denying ourselves of worldly pleasures and becoming mindful of Christ’s suffering for us. Practicing penitential acts helps us to put worldly things into perspective and helps us discipline our bodies so that we may become disciples of Christ. And that we, may focus more on the One who created us, and less on the wants, of the one created.