Another question on Lent and Meat

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ultraswamy

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Our family usually goes totally-vegetarian during the entire period of Lent but this time, somehow, in the run-up to Lent we’ve landed up with lots of meat in the fridge…

Thanks to a gluttonous visit to the butcher recently, one of our family members went overboard and brought home a lot more meat than we could hope to finish by the beginning of Lent.

Now we don’t want to throw out the meat…and waste it.
And neither do we want it to go green in the fridge over the next 40days…

So i suggested we make a compromise and um…continue to polish off the meat, so as to not waste any, and then begin our usual Lenten practice of strictly-no-meat, even if it means we don’t do a proper 40days of no-meat and fasting.

After that suggestion though, i’ve been feeling a bit guilty of **allowing myself a loophole and ?permitting gluttony? **especially during a time where, in previous years, we’ve been strict with ourselves, (although as i mentioned before my motivation is not to give in to greed and enjoy meat, but to Not be wasteful when we have plenty.)

Would an imperfect fast, for practical reasons, lessen the quality of the sacrifice - your opinions?
 
Other then not eating meat on Fridays and giving up meat and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, you can eat meat any other day during Lent. As for what you give up, it is totally up to you to define what you give up and the conditions. It is sort of a contract between you and God.

Giving things up just to give things up during Lent isn’t good. Sacrifice for God is what is important. Whether that sacrifice between a thing like meat, time, money or something else is defined by the person (except for those days as defined by the Church.) If giving up meat for the entire period of Lent doesn’t work for you give up something else.
 
Meat will still be well and truly edible after 40 days in the freezer, so eat whatever else is in there to make room if you have to.

If you need to, perhaps give the meat to friends or family who aren’t going meat-free?

The other thing - Sundays are always feast days, even during Lent we can celebrate the mini-Easter that each Sunday is. So you can eat the meat then as well.
 
ultraswamy said:
Our family usually goes totally-vegetarian during the entire period of Lent but this time, somehow, in the run-up to Lent we’ve landed up with lots of meat in the fridge…

Thanks to a gluttonous visit to the butcher recently, one of our family members went overboard and brought home a lot more meat than we could hope to finish by the beginning of Lent.

Now we don’t want to throw out the meat…and waste it.
And neither do we want it to go green in the fridge over the next 40days…

So i suggested we make a compromise and um…continue to polish off the meat, so as to not waste any, and then begin our usual Lenten practice of strictly-no-meat, even if it means we don’t do a proper 40days of no-meat and fasting.

After that suggestion though, i’ve been feeling a bit guilty of **allowing myself a loophole and ?permitting gluttony? **especially during a time where, in previous years, we’ve been strict with ourselves, (although as i mentioned before my motivation is not to give in to greed and enjoy meat, but to Not be wasteful when we have plenty.)

Would an imperfect fast, for practical reasons, lessen the quality of the sacrifice - your opinions?
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I suppose in Bangalore freezing the meat would not be possible? so how about giving it away. Surely there are people who would be grateful for the donation.
 
ultraswamy said:
Our family usually goes totally-vegetarian during the entire period of Lent but this time, somehow, in the run-up to Lent we’ve landed up with lots of meat in the fridge…

Thanks to a gluttonous visit to the butcher recently, one of our family members went overboard and brought home a lot more meat than we could hope to finish by the beginning of Lent.

Now we don’t want to throw out the meat…and waste it.
And neither do we want it to go green in the fridge over the next 40days…

So i suggested we make a compromise and um…continue to polish off the meat, so as to not waste any, and then begin our usual Lenten practice of strictly-no-meat, even if it means we don’t do a proper 40days of no-meat and fasting.

After that suggestion though, i’ve been feeling a bit guilty of **allowing myself a loophole and ?permitting gluttony? **especially during a time where, in previous years, we’ve been strict with ourselves, (although as i mentioned before my motivation is not to give in to greed and enjoy meat, but to Not be wasteful when we have plenty.)

Would an imperfect fast, for practical reasons, lessen the quality of the sacrifice - your opinions?
Click to expand...
I have a similar problem. This type of sausage that I really like was on sale at the supermarket, so I bought 12 pounds of it. Yes, you heard right, 12 pounds. I have finished 3 pounds in one week, or about 7,200 calories worth. I sure am not gonna finish the rest by tomorrow. I have thrown all of it in the freezer, and cross my fingers that they will still be editable 45+ days later.
 
SomeCatholicGuy said:
I have a similar problem. This type of sausage that I really like was on sale at the supermarket, so I bought 12 pounds of it. Yes, you heard right, 12 pounds. I have finished 3 pounds in one week, or about 7,200 calories worth. I sure am not gonna finish the rest by tomorrow. I have thrown all of it in the freezer, and cross my fingers that they will still be editable 45+ days later.
Click to expand...
I’ve eaten meat (and other freezables) that were well over 45 days old - never had a problem with it!
 
If you folks can’t freeze the meat… or you’re worried about it being edible after 40 days… I would suggest donating it to a Homeless shelter in your area; or perhaps to your parish (to feed the homeless or elderly).

Just a thought. God bless.
 
ultraswamy said:
Our family usually goes totally-vegetarian during the entire period of Lent but this time, somehow, in the run-up to Lent we’ve landed up with lots of meat in the fridge…

Thanks to a gluttonous visit to the butcher recently, one of our family members went overboard and brought home a lot more meat than we could hope to finish by the beginning of Lent.

Now we don’t want to throw out the meat…and waste it.
And neither do we want it to go green in the fridge over the next 40days…

So i suggested we make a compromise and um…continue to polish off the meat, so as to not waste any, and then begin our usual Lenten practice of strictly-no-meat, even if it means we don’t do a proper 40days of no-meat and fasting.

After that suggestion though, i’ve been feeling a bit guilty of **allowing myself a loophole and ?permitting gluttony? **especially during a time where, in previous years, we’ve been strict with ourselves, (although as i mentioned before my motivation is not to give in to greed and enjoy meat, but to Not be wasteful when we have plenty.)

Would an imperfect fast, for practical reasons, lessen the quality of the sacrifice - your opinions?
Click to expand...
It’s now been Ash Wednesday here for 1 1/2 hrs. No late night cheeseburger tonight. I’ve already started my lent though, a chicken salad from mcdonalds each day only and drinks of course. My parish priest told me this. One meal per day. Sometimes I feel sick and weak and have a bit extra though. I’m also finally trying to quit my most shameful habit of smoking. I’ll give it my best shot. I’m trying to get some other attachments out of my life and work harder on my spiritual life too. I won’t eat meat when I’m not too. That’s my lent. God bless:)
 
John_Russell_Jr said:
It’s now been Ash Wednesday here for 1 1/2 hrs. No late night cheeseburger tonight. I’ve already started my lent though, a chicken salad from mcdonalds
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No chicken on Ash Wed or Fridays, though - we are abstaining from meat (chicken counts, it is meat).
 
Many thanks to all for your attention to this otherwise repeated-topic…its now Lent-minus-5mins here and i am no longer foxed by what to do! yey!
Marauder said:
Whether that sacrifice between a thing like meat, time, money or something else is defined by the person (except for those days as defined by the Church.) If giving up meat for the entire period of Lent doesn’t work for you give up something else.
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We’re a hungry hungry family! :D…so giving up food usually ranks high on our sacrifices, but another reason we’ve (so far) abstained from meat is that it is a sacrifice we get to do together, as a family. That said, each of us in the family are making our own personal sacrifices this Lent…
LilyM said:
The other thing - Sundays are always feast days, even during Lent we can celebrate the mini-Easter that each Sunday is. So you can eat the meat then as well.
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Great! This is what we’ve decided to do…we plan to stick to our family tradition of no-meat through the week, and on Sunday alone - finish off the meat.

In addition, i’m gonna ask my mum to make the meat without all the spices and curry that Indian food usually has, and then try to finish it without attempting to savour it, too much ;)…lets see how that work out.
MarieVeronica said:
If you folks can’t freeze the meat… or you’re worried about it being edible after 40 days… I would suggest donating it to a Homeless shelter in your area; or perhaps to your parish (to feed the homeless or elderly)
Click to expand...
I had considered that actually, but it’s not really a ‘done’ thing here :(… people donate rice, grains, pulses and veggies in general, all the time, but not meat; to convents and church-run institutions such as orphanages and homes for the destitute.

As for freezing it, power-cuts are a regular feature in India…so hoping for a reliable cold-chain through the whole of Lent is not such a great idea, or we’d have had 12lbs of sausage in our fridge too!! 😛

Thanks once again for all your prompt replies…and God bless!
 
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