Accidentally ate ham on friday of lent

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Hi Everyone,

So today is the official start to Lent and you aren’t supposed to eat meat today. Here is the problem, I gave up soda and swearing for Lent, but when I sat down to lunch today, I completely forgot that I wasn’t supposed to do/eat any of those things today. I got half way through my burger and coke before I saw someone with ashes on their head and remembered that what I was doing wasn’t right. What do I need to do if it was an honest mistake. Should I pray to God for forgiveness? Thanks.
 
needingadvice said:
Hi Everyone,

So today is the official start to Lent and you aren’t supposed to eat meat today. Here is the problem, I gave up soda and swearing for Lent, but when I sat down to lunch today, I completely forgot that I wasn’t supposed to do/eat any of those things today. I got half way through my burger and coke before I saw someone with ashes on their head and remembered that what I was doing wasn’t right. What do I need to do if it was an honest mistake. Should I pray to God for forgiveness? Thanks.
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As far as the burger goes, since the requirements for abstinence are binding on all Catholic adults and they are known to you, you should probably go to Confession. You know the requirement, but you neglected to keep it out of inattention, i.e., forgetting. If you “forgot” to go to Mass on a holy day of obligation, unless you have Alzhiemers or something, it would be the same thing.

As far as the soda goes, that’s an optional thing you are abstaining from so there are no binding obligations, except to your own self-discipline.
 
Fidelis said:
As far as the burger goes, since the requirements for abstinence are binding on all Catholic adults and they are known to you, you should probably go to Confession. You know the requirement, but you neglected to keep it out of inattention, i.e., forgetting. If you “forgot” to go to Mass on a holy day of obligation, unless you have Alzhiemers or something, it would be the same thing.

As far as the soda goes, that’s an optional thing you are abstaining from so there are no binding obligations, except to your own self-discipline.
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Wrong. A mortal sin (one that requires confesion) must be done with full consent. Negligence or carelessness or inattention means it is not fully consented to, and thus not a mortal sin. May be a venial sin, but doesn’t require confession.

Sometimes a banana is just a banana, and sometimes people forget just because they forget. Catholicism is NOT a memory test, neither are we to be punished for the fact that, being human, we all have imperfect memories and imperfect ability to be attentive of things like dates.
 
LilyM said:
Wrong. A mortal sin (one that requires confesion) must be done with full consent. Negligence or carelessness or inattention means it is not fully consented to, and thus not a mortal sin. May be a venial sin, but doesn’t require confession.

Sometimes a banana is just a banana, and sometimes people forget just because they forget. Catholicism is NOT a memory test, neither are we to be punished for the fact that, being human, we all have imperfect memories and imperfect ability to be attentive of things like dates.
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👍 Thanks! I was going to say something similar.

Knowledge is power!
 
needingadvice said:
Hi Everyone,

So today is the official start to Lent and you aren’t supposed to eat meat today. Here is the problem, I gave up soda and swearing for Lent, but when I sat down to lunch today, I completely forgot that I wasn’t supposed to do/eat any of those things today. I got half way through my burger and coke before I saw someone with ashes on their head and remembered that what I was doing wasn’t right. What do I need to do if it was an honest mistake. Should I pray to God for forgiveness? Thanks.
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In your shoes, I would ask God for forgiveness for forgetting, and resolve to keep my fast. You didn’t delibately break the fast, with full consent and knowledfge, so it’s not a mortal sin. Entrust the mistake to God and trust in His Mercy.
 
I think some mistakes are honest. If it bothers a person that much, go to confession, it wouldnt hurt anyway. But on one occasion many years ago when I forgot, someone told me that maybe I needed to focus more on the season of lent. He simply said that the seaon of Lent is a very intense focus on repentance and Church. I guess what he was trying to say was that if you truly focus on lent every day of it the way you are supposed to, how could you forget?
 
It was not intentional. An honest mistake. You will remember next time. Move on!
 
On further reflection, I have to admit that my answer in a previous post was incorrect. Seekinganswers: the other posters have given you good answers.
 
I had family visiting today and we went out to eat breakfast. I ordered an egg and ham sandwich and ate it and then 20 minutes later I rememebered the requirement to abstain from meat.

Is this a grave or venial sin? At the time I ordered and ate the Church law was not in my mind at all; I was totally unaware of what I was doing and did.

Thanks
 
It’s not a sin if it was done unintentionally.

In any case, just do another penance. For example, pray the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary.
 
“accidentally” is the important term. You didn’t do anything wrong.
However, if you want to do something - a few minutes of prayer is never out of place.
 
Thanks; I feel better. I often get an overly active negative/critical/guilty mind. . .
 
I went out for lunch with my daughter today and while we were driving to the restaurant my daughter said she was getting a beer . I replied that I wasn’t because I’d given up liquor for Lent. She said she would pass then. When we got there I relented and said I decided to have one. What should I do? I knew what I was doing. Should I go to confession or say the sorrowful mysteries? I can’t believe I did this with Lent only 2 days old.
 
otch_maker said:
I went out for lunch with my daughter today and while we were driving to the restaurant my daughter said she was getting a beer . I replied that I wasn’t because I’d given up liquor for Lent. She said she would pass then. When we got there I relented and said I decided to have one. What should I do? I knew what I was doing. Should I go to confession or say the sorrowful mysteries? I can’t believe I did this with Lent only 2 days old.
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otch_maker said:
I went out for lunch with my daughter today and while we were driving to the restaurant my daughter said she was getting a beer . I replied that I wasn’t because I’d given up liquor for Lent. She said she would pass then. When we got there I relented and said I decided to have one. What should I do? I knew what I was doing. Should I go to confession or say the sorrowful mysteries? I can’t believe I did this with Lent only 2 days old.
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Giving up beer is lenten discipline you have chosen for yourself with the purpose of entering into the Lenten spirit of sacrifice. It is not binding so it is not a sin of any kind.

Just resolve to do better and give it another go. That’s what Lent is all about.
 
If it was unintentional, there is, by definition, no sin.

But the need for penance still remains. The most common thing my pastor advises is to abstain on an additional day. Wed is the other penitenal day of the week in the Catholic calendar, so perhaps you can look at abstaining next Wed.
 
Agent said:
I had family visiting today and we went out to eat breakfast. I ordered an egg and ham sandwich and ate it and then 20 minutes later I rememebered the requirement to abstain from meat.

Is this a grave or venial sin? At the time I ordered and ate the Church law was not in my mind at all; I was totally unaware of what I was doing and did.

Thanks
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It’s a mistake, an accident, an untended error. No sin.
 
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