Meat and Mortal Sin

I will never claim to be an expert on the Catholic faith. Do I know the faith better than most Catholics? Yes, but only because I studied it in college and received a degree in teaching it. I continue to learn about the faith almost daily and I'm thankful for that.
So many things the Catholic Church teaches are black and white. Things that are clearly a sin, teachings of the church that are not going to change, things like like. I understand all of this and it is largely because of this that I love my Catholic faith so much. The Catholic faith has an answer for everything, and they all make sense if you take the time to fully understand the Church's reasoning.
With that in mind, a friend called me the other day. She had a question about eating meat of Friday's during Lent. She, like many Catholics didn't really know why the Church has us abstain from meat on Fridays, so I did my best to relay my understanding.
I told her that we abstain from meat on Fridays first and foremost to remember Jesus Christ's sacrifice that he made for us. His flesh and bone was whipped, beaten, spit on and finally hung on a cross until his body gave its last breath. In our abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent we are called to remember that ultimate sacrifice made for all humankind. It's a small thing to ask, but a great spiritual discipline and reminder of what is truly the most important part of our life, that God loves us so much that He would die for us.
This was my understanding. Thinking the Lenten fast was simply a spiritual discipline we as Catholics were called to participate in to the best of our ability. And I told her it wasn't a sin to eat meat on Friday.
As I researched the topic, I find that I'm mostly right, but I was also not fully aware of gravity of the Lenten fast the Church calls us to.
My new understanding is that it can actually be a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday as long as the three conditions for a mortal sin are met, i.e. grave matter, full knowledge and deliberate consent. So if a Catholic knowingly eats meat on a Friday during Lent that can be a mortal sin.
For most Catholics, I don't think this will ever be the case since most Catholics are no where close to having full knowledge of their faith.
My friend wondered because she has a big fancy dinner she has to go to. As a mom who rarely gets out she is excited for the event and really wants to make a night of it with her husband. Being from Montana she of course wants to have a nice steak for her meal, but the dinner is on a Friday during Lent. So I gave her my understanding and she felt better. I made sure to fully explain that the reason to abstain is to remember Christ and his sacrifice. She felt better about her decision.

I know now that I could have given her a better understanding of what the Church actually teaches. I'm sure she would still choose to eat the steak though, and that's between her and God now.
It comes down to believing in the God given authority of the Catholic Church. It is a rule that during Lent we are to abstain from eating meat, so this is more than just a spiritual discipline. Will most Catholics ever come to this understanding? Probably not, because many priests don't even fully understand this, or if they do they choose to water it down.
So I guess all I can do is chock this up as a learning experience and trust that God will understand my failure and not hold it against me or my friend.
I'm blessed that I can continue to learn about this amazing faith.

Peace all