[NYer]

The problem is that the USCCB hasn't substituted "other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety" in place of abstinence and fasting on Fridays outside of Lent. (Under the text of the canon, they are the ones who would have to substitute, not us.)

My 19 year old daughter is good at that game too! "But 'they' didn't tell me ..... or 'they' changed the rules ....

Let those with eyes, see; let those with ears, hear. This is a personal responsibility. The secularist world is quick to point the finger of blame ... don't cave in. You have eyes and ears; you can read and hear. This is your decision, and should not be based on the USCCB's interpretation. The option of following their written directives is, of course, your option.

Over the past few decades, we seem to have lost touch with personal sacrifice. Personally, I can't find anything more beautiful in my life than the challenge of making a personal sacrifice each day and every week, for the Person who gave up all for my salvation.

“The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing.” ... John Paul II