What does the Church say about attending parties on Fridays, and what about modern party culture?
A viewer asks what the Church says about attending even decent parties on Fridays, and for some insight on the modern party culture.
Answer
Let us be honest. The world lives by "let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die," and that is basically what all these parties are about. They are filled with alcohol, and then often with drugs, sometimes hard drugs. Apart from a child's birthday party, have you ever really been to an adult party where alcohol and sometimes drugs are not used? Hardly. And why do they do that? These people have nothing to live for other than to be happy; they try to live it up and give it all the gusto they can, for tomorrow they die, and some of them literally will be dead the next day, either from the drugs or because it is their time to go. So no, that is not where a good Catholic Christian should be on a Friday. That is why we have the practice of not eating meat on Friday, to remind us of Good Friday when our Savior died for us. It is the total opposite of the party atmosphere. And not eating meat does not mean going out to gorge yourself on lobster, shrimp, and crab, a better meal than a steak; it is a time when we should fast as much as we can, and if we do eat, we eat something lowly, like tilapia. That is the way we should be living every day if we can, but at least once a week on Friday.