Do you abstain from meat on non-Lenten Fridays?

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thistle said:
How about the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

CCC 1438 The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).
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The Code of Canon Law works hand in hand with the Catechism. Since the Catechism does not specifically state that fasting is not to be observed on all Fridays and the Code of Canon Law does:
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference,**** is to be observed** on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday.** Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Then apparently fasting of some sort is to be done.
 
palmas85 said:
The Code of Canon Law works hand in hand with the Catechism. Since the Catechism does not specifically state that fasting is not to be observed on all Fridays and the Code of Canon Law does:
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference,**** is to be observed**** on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Then apparently fasting of some sort is to be done.
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That’s true but from many posters in other threads on this topic in the past it would appear that the US bishops in accordance with Can. 1253 have decided that abstaining from meat on non-Lenten Fridays is not required and that any form of penance can be done.
I’m not American so I don’t know but I do remember from lots of US posters that this is the case. As there appears to be different opinions from the US posters I would be interested to know what the correct situation is.

I know in my home country Scotland any penance suffices. Here in the Philippines (your home country) any penance suffices, and most if not all other Asian countries it is also the case.
 
we eat meat only infrequently in any case, so need another Friday penance, which in our case is regular Friday work on a charitable outreach.

there is no need to debate the law on fasting, which is discussed amply on other sites and linked on FAQs and AAA.

why not stick to OP’s question? be warned a holier than thou attitude on this or any other spiritual discipline is detrimental to the user.
 
Yes, we do. And I’ve really found it to be more effective to me and my family than an alternate penance. It’s the standard, you might say, and we all do it together. When we have our fish, or our beans, or whatnot for dinner, we’re all remembering together what we do this penance for.

And on Solemnities, when we have a Friday of meat, the whole novelty of it is enough to continually remind us of what we’re celebrating.
 
I started abstaining from meat on Fridays a year ago (just continued after Lent was over). It’s had several positive aspects for me. One is that it’s a very tiny penance and I can always do more penance. Another is that it makes me a little more mindful. Instead of mindlessly grabbing a hamburger for lunch I have to think about what I’m eating and I’m reminded that this is aimed at being a little more holy. It also makes me feel a little more Catholic, a little more connected with others who have done and are doing the same thing.

I kind of think it was a mistake to abolish Friday abstinence. I know that many people did it because they had to rather than doing it in a prayerful way, but I think it had a positive aspect anyway. People had to think about their faith outside of church and on a day other than Sunday. It was an additional reminder of our faith and that we’re “in” the world but not “of” the world.
 
No and I don’t feel sinful about it…I do other things that are more meaningful to me

You can substitute a meatless dish you love, so where is the sacrifice in doing that?

I eat things I don’t like on all Fridays during lent, not something meatless that I like

I think you can obey the letter of the law and still deny the spirit of the law
 
eelpis said:
I do. My children cannot though since they serve meat at the Catholic school on most Fridays.
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It’s too bad the school does that. Our public schools in the 50’s and 60’s always served fish on Fridays.
 
I do, but if I were really good about doing penance, I would abstain from sweets instead! It’s not much of a sacrifice to have fish & chips or veggie pizza on Fridays, but it does have the beneficial effect of making me think about Good Friday.

Having to make the choice when cooking or ordering in a restaurant brings me a greater awareness every Friday of Christ’s sacrifice. Hence, I see the wisdom and often unexpected benefits of these traditional practices of our Faith.
 
Rosella said:
I do, but if I were really good about doing penance, I would abstain from sweets instead! It’s not much of a sacrifice to have fish & chips or veggie pizza on Fridays, but it does have the beneficial effect of making me think about Good Friday.

Having to make the choice when cooking or ordering in a restaurant brings me a greater awareness every Friday of Christ’s sacrifice. Hence, I see the wisdom and often unexpected benefits of these traditional practices of our Faith.
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Ditto to everything you said… particularly the sweets! 😃

Your last paragraph rang so true with me. It’s not always a great sacrifice for me to give up meat on a Friday (though, undeniably, some days I just want meat for no particular reason, and then it’s hard!), but the consistency of the practice really makes a huge different.

And the way it fits so much into the natural order of the day. Several times in a day while cooking and eating my meals I’m brought to a consciousness of Christ’s Passion.

Giving up sweets would be a sacrifice, but I’d just simply give them up, and I could forget about it. In giving up meat I’m not giving up food altogether, so in preparing meals it stays in my mind, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
 
consumedconvert said:
Me too. I know it’s not required, nor is it for everyone. My wife and I make an exception if we’re “out” with friends, I must admit.

😉
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Yes it is. Canon 1251 says so. It is binding. I urge you to refrain from the coment saying it is not required…because it IS.
 
I am sorry I have canon 1251 memorized mostly because of the watering down of Catholicism that is more than obvious in our church which has been run .(locally) by modernists and progressives.

The American Church can “opt out” of meatless fridays.

It is MUCH EASIER to abstain from meat. The opt out option is a personal act of penance. which is STUPID because anyone can make anything up as an act of penance… like say …smiling at someone on an elevator or saying somthign “nice”. which is great and good but c’mon we are supposed to be like that all the time.
 
I do. The American bishops have repeatedly urged the maintenance of the traditional Friday abstinence, as recently as 2002.

I must admit that it surprises me when I read of folks who generally maintain Friday abstinence from meat, but then if they are out with friends or at some social event, “switch” to another penance, because of what is being served. No disrespect intended, but to me, this defeats the purpose of the penance, which is to stick to it, even when social circunstances make it convenient to do otherwise. Otherwise it would not be much of a sacrifice, would it? 🤷
 
As a mortification, I do not eat on Friday. It’s so much easier than being tortured and nailed to a cross. Is it not the least I can do, since He spared Himself not even one lash of the whip for my sake?

Christ’s peace.
 
Chatter163 said:
I do. The American bishops have repeatedly urged the maintenance of the traditional Friday abstinence, as recently as 2002.

I must admit that it surprises me when I read of folks who generally maintain Friday abstinence from meat, but then if they are out with friends or at some social event, “switch” to another penance, because of what is being served. No disrespect intended, but to me, this defeats the purpose of the penance, which is to stick to it, even when social circunstances make it convenient to do otherwise. Otherwise it would not be much of a sacrifice, would it? 🤷
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I agree with you, sometimes it is annoying to have to not eat meat on a friday but like you and others said it is a very very small sacrifice compared to what Jesus suffered.
Even if I am out I don’t eat meat I will make sure I get something else.
 
tee_eff_em said:
You need take Canon 1253 into account as well.

tee
Still Not A Canon Lawyer
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Canon Law 1253
anon 1253 – It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops in their pastoral statement of November 18, 1966 determined the following:

Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday. Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole.

I would say that especially reccommended comes pretty close to saying required without actually saying it. I’m pretty sure that fasting is allowed, encouraged and maybe even expected given the wording that was used.

I don’t think that it would have been worded that way if they did not want it to continue. I think the part about some other penance was written in as a concession to those who wanted to do away with fasting in its entirity, of which there were more than a few back in those days.
 
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