Some St. Patrick’s Day celebrations a week from today could go without the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage. The holiday falls on Friday during the Catholic observance of Lent, a time when Catholics are urged to abstain from eating meat as a form of penance.Sister Carol Hoeverman (HO’-ver-man) of the Archdiosese of Dubuque says Catholics who still want to partake in the corned beef and cabbage cancan ask their pastor for a dispensation or a whole parrish can ask the Archbishop. There are just over half a million Catholics in Iowa.