Saint Faustina wrote:"Our meals shall be such that not even the poor will have any reason to envy us" (546). So, it's no surprise that St. Faustina didn't eat meat on Fridays even outside of Lent. That was Canon Law. But since St. Faustina's time, Canon Law has allowed us, depending on our bishops conferences, to choose another penance on Fridays in place of abstaining from meat. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops allow a substitute penance. Nevertheless, the USCCB gives "first place to abstinence from flesh meat" (24, Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence)

The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123025.cfm The mystery of Christmas overturns every illusion of self-salvation. God does not wait for humanity to climb back to Him. He comes down. Father Anthony Gramlich, MIC, draws us into this central truth of the Incarnation: Fallen humanity cannot raise itself by its own efforts. Grace is not something we generate. Redemption begins with divine humility.

My daughter, all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. (Diary 178).