ARCHDIOCESE — Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat and also days of fast, that is, limited to a single full meal. With regard to Good Friday, the teaching of the Second Vatican Council should be recalled:

CT PHOTO/TODD MUSKOPF

Father Brinkmoeller applies ashes to the forehead of Breanna Gutterman, third grade student at St. Helen School.

The other Fridays of the season of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. The law of abstinence binds all Catholics 14 years and older. The law of fasting binds all Catholics from their 18th birthday until their 59th birthday (canons 97 and 1252).

With regard to the obligatory days listed above, however, there are frequent questions about the degree of seriousness of the matter. The teaching of Pope John Paul II may be simply paraphrased: the obligation to do penance is a serious one; the obligation to observe, as a whole or "substantially," the penitential days specified by the church is also serious.

No one should be scrupulous in this regard; failure to observe an individual day of penance is not serious.

People should seek to do more rather than less. Fast and abstinence on the days should be considered a minimum response to the Lord’s call to penance and conversion.