This year St. Patrick's Day is on a Friday during Lent . . . which means no meat . . . which means no corned beef . . . which means missing out on the full St. Patrick's Day experience . . . which means feeling empty and incomplete.
But don't worry. The dioceses are here to help.
At least HALF of the dioceses in America are giving out special dispensations to allow Catholics permission to mow down corned beef tomorrow without violating Lent.
In fact, only TWO of the 179 dioceses have given corned beef a hard "no": Denver and Lincoln, Nebraska.
How does yours feel? You can contact them to find out. Most of them are just giving out a blanket dispensation . . . but some say you should personally request one from a priest or agree to skip meat on Saturday as a trade-off.
FULL STORY Catholic News Agency, Image (c) 2017 GettyImages