Good Friday is generally the time for fasting and abstinence. I have somehow succeeded in abstaining from eating meat the past Fridays this Lent except for that one time when i had a meeting with my staff and not one of them observes abstinence anyway.
I have noticed though that the abstinence rule has kinda changed even at home. i remember us not having any meat for the entire week then starting Monday up to Saturday. imagine how much we'd be craving for meat come Easter Sunday, lechon anyone??? these days though, my mom says we only need to abstain on the Paschal Triduum or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday. it's not really a mandatory thing. i just don't see anything wrong in sacrificing a little bit, besides it can be healthy too.
Good Friday is also that day commemorating Jesus Christ's crucifixion and death in order to save us from sins. quite mushy for kids nowadays but whenever you think hard about it you're supposed to feel extra special.
Faith is indeed a gift one has to receive (Robert Langdon, Angels and Demons). It's either you have it or you don't. or there will be times when you do question or even get angry. My faith has always been a more personal, more unorthodox one. it's like having a father, a brother, a confidante all in one. it's like having an enemy too. i'm not one who religiously follows rituals though i have been finding myself going back to church and attending mass each Sunday. and praying the rosary whenever i can. but there are more times when i would choose not to listen to him like some bratty kid. i guess this is the beauty of the Catholic faith really, we get to design our own faith, how we live our life, how we practice our faith. the basic tenet would really be to do what is basically and intrinsically good as a human being above all else. I don't know, maybe the elders and the more religious ones would frown at this practice. but for now i am at peace. i am loving the thought of being loved and basking in His glory.
i failed to attend church services today and have found myself listening to Jars of Clay almost the entire day...and here is my most favorite:
I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
and wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
the battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
this song never fails to rip my heart apart. it's just so meaningful and beautiful i couldn't help but cry or stop whatever it is i am doing and drink up each word, each melody of this song.
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