Accidental Consumption of Meat on Fridays: A Sin?

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Yesterday I accedentally encountered meat at two meals. At lunch, it was pepperoni pizza. Luckily, I remember it was Lent in time to remove the pepperoni pieces… and then I took off the cheese just to be safe. Then for dinner I went through a Taco Bell drive through and had an order of Steak Taquitos. Only on the last bite of those did I recall again. I spit it out in the trash, and did my best to rinse out my mouth of meat residue.

Was my accidental consumption of meat on a Lent Friday sinful? Did I do enough to prevent consumption after I recalled that it was a friday?
 
You cannot sin by accident. Ever. Consuming meat on a Friday in Lent is only sinful if you do it purposefully.

It was not necessary to remove the cheese from your pizza, either. We need not take our Lenten disciplines to the molecular level. It’s about the heart and the will. Don’t get scrupulous.

Betsy
 
As to the spitting out part, isn’t wasting perfectly good food that’s allready in your mouth worse? Aren’t there starving children in Africa now the same as when I was growing up?
 
I’ve slipped up before during Lent. Though it’s not required, if I error on Friday, I abstain from meat on Saturday. I wouldn’t waste food. It’s a blessing from God, even if you’re not supposed to be eating it on a particular day. And I wouldn’t take a haphazard approach of choosing the day you want to abstain. Friday is the day we give up something year round, and specifically give up meat during Lent. I do the Saturday thing as an extra devotion more than a make up day if that makes any sense.
 
Insomniac said:
Was my accidental consumption of meat on a Lent Friday sinful? Did I do enough to prevent consumption after I recalled that it was a friday?
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Sinful.

Your gluttonly blinded you to your believes and values, you failed.

It would like if I layed down my weapon to eat, to personaly indulde, when I was suppose to be ready to fight, to do my part as needed.

Totaly unacceptable. :mad:
 
Avor is a bit confused on the matter. The other posters are right that you can’t sin on accident.

❤️
 
Avor said:
Sinful.

Your gluttonly blinded you to your believes and values, you failed.

It would like if I layed down my weapon to eat, to personaly indulde, when I was suppose to be ready to fight, to do my part as needed.

Totaly unacceptable. :mad:
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Mate, if you’re joking you might want to include a SMILING smiley or two to indicate as much … and if you’re not then you have serious problems.
 
I just hold myself to incredible self standards.

If I make it a moral point to do or not to something, it will be so, unwaivering and absolute.

If somebody has a moral belief, and they fail in it, they have failed.

He did just that, he set a standard and belief for himself, and he allowed himself to fall below that standard and fail himself in his beliefs and values.
 
To the OP-

Sins are either material or formal-that is, they are either unwitting participation in something that is itself a sinful act, or they are wilfull participation in a sinful act.

Before I go on, just want to clarify that I am not saying that eating meat on fridays during lent is not a sin-it is, but not because the actual act of eating meat is sinful, because it isn’t. Eating meat is not in itself evil regardless of circumstance, as compared to something like abortion, which is always an evil thing. Incidentally, you can eat cheese on fridays during Lent-eggs and milk, too. Just not actual meat.

The actual sin at work in this issue, as I see it, is in one’s attitude toward the teaching authority of the Church, which I think is much, much bigger than just the act of eating meat, and which is also why eating meat on fridays during Lent is taught to be a mortal sin.

As Catholics, we have a responsibility to uphold the Church’s teaching-when we don’t, willfully or not, it can create scandal and can negatively affect the habits of faith and discipline that we should all strive for.

You did not formally reject the Church’s teaching on this issue-which would be a formal (and also mortal) sin.

However, you did materially fail to uphold the teaching of the Church, not because you disregarded it (which would be formal), but because you forgot, which isn’t formal or mortal because of the lack of intention and the fact that mortal sins really can’t be accidental.

That’s as far as I can go with this, so I guess I’m saying that yes, you made an accidental mistake-we all do, and we all keep trying to do better.
 
Just an aside,
  1. if Avor is sincere, well, the view from up there must be amazing.
  2. if Avor is being sarcastic-that sarcasm isn’t only mocking the intention of the OP to do what he believes is right, Avor is also mocking the teaching authority of the Church by minimizing a long held practice that has come to contribute to our common identity as Catholics.
 
Not all failures are the same, and not all, not nearly all, are due to moral or any other weakness, though. If I determine to run 15km and slip and break my leg at the 5km point there is no moral weakness nor culpability if I fail to run the rest of the route.

Same as if I intend to meet a date at a certain time and fail to do so because the train or bus I am on breaks down and there’s not another means of transport available to get me there on time.

Now you don’t know the circumstances behind the fact that the OP forgot - it may be his or her first ever Lent as a Catholic, he or she may have had three sick children at home on his or her mind, or any one of dozens uncontrollable and non-culpable, non-morally-weak factors.
 
Insomniac said:
Yesterday I accedentally encountered meat at two meals. At lunch, it was pepperoni pizza. Luckily, I remember it was Lent in time to remove the pepperoni pieces… and then I took off the cheese just to be safe. Then for dinner I went through a Taco Bell drive through and had an order of Steak Taquitos. Only on the last bite of those did I recall again. I spit it out in the trash, and did my best to rinse out my mouth of meat residue.

Was my accidental consumption of meat on a Lent Friday sinful? Did I do enough to prevent consumption after I recalled that it was a friday?
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Eating meat on a Friday is not a sin.

Didn’t the Pope allow people to eat corn beef when St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday during Lent?
 
stop with thread title, first word
accidental anything is not a sin
sin requires sinful matter, full knowledge, full intention and full free will consent.
 
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