Do you abstain or fast on Fridays

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St Francis does have a point about accepting the food even though you are doing a penance etc. No need to impose what you are doing on others who do not do what you do and/believe what you do.

Good thing on Lenten Fridays, I know where to find the best fish fries in the area so that way I am not tempted by meat on those days. Plus my dad and my nephew enjoy fish any day of the week so going with them is an added bonus.
 
Zacdecat said:
Oh you poor poor dear, however just because you cannot eat fishies does not make you unfaithful…there is always …😃rabbit food…greens etc
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Rabiit food is indeed good. And cheese is also on the menu too. I usually have salads and grill cheese on those days. 😃
 
I grew up not eating meat on Fridays, which my mother enforced even after the ban was lifted.
Living near the sea, we always had delicious seafood on Fridays (lobster, crab, oysters,abalone) so it didn’t feel like much of a sacrifice. Sometimes on Friday afternoons my dad and I would go fishing and bring home fresh trout for dinner. Again, way too much fun to be called a “sacrifice”. Now I pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday, which is more in keeping with what Friday means to me as a Catholic.
 
I never found abstaining from meat to be a hardship or sacrifice personally, so only follow this practice during lent. Truly, a tuna casserole or pasta alfredo instead of a hamburger? Hardly a big sacrifice.

Because it feels like little or no sacrifice, however, even through the years that I otherwise was not practicing my faith, I made a point of volunteering at least a few hours each week through lent in service to others. I don’t know how that fits in with Catholic teaching, but as a working single mother and student, time is hard for me to give up, so is was a more meaningful sacrifice. The thing is though, volunteering is so rewarding, that now feels like a selfish pursuit as well and again - I can’t find the sacrifice in my actions!
 
formerlysure said:
I never found abstaining from meat to be a hardship or sacrifice personally, so only follow this practice during lent. Truly, a tuna casserole or pasta alfredo instead of a hamburger? Hardly a big sacrifice.
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Neither was not eating of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden. 😉
 
My mother prefers to eat a salad on Lenten fridays as she doesn’t like seafood of any kind, and only like a few meatless pasta dishes.
Little_One0307 said:
Rabiit food is indeed good. And cheese is also on the menu too. I usually have salads and grill cheese on those days. 😃
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MissRose73 said:
My mother prefers to eat a salad on Lenten fridays as she doesn’t like seafood of any kind, and only like a few meatless pasta dishes.
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Maybe come Lent I will do a recipie for us allergic to fish peeps. And maybe Lent will be better this year. 😃

God bless.
 
I’m late in joining the thread, but I too abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. Growing up, we never ate meat on any Friday. I know I could choose another Friday penance now, except during Lent, of course, but not eating meat every Friday is a practice I’ve chosen to carry into adulthood.
 
Cara_Serrano said:
I grew up not eating meat on Fridays, which my mother enforced even after the ban was lifted. …
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Yep, that was us too.
Cara_Serrano said:
… Living near the sea, we always had delicious seafood on Fridays (lobster, crab, oysters,abalone) so it didn’t feel like much of a sacrifice. Sometimes on Friday afternoons my dad and I would go fishing and bring home fresh trout for dinner. Again, way too much fun to be called a “sacrifice”. Now I pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday, which is more in keeping with what Friday means to me as a Catholic.
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Growing up, our Friday meal choices typically consisted of the following items, though we also rarely ate whole fish, mac and cheese and tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. As a kid, I did get tired of the same menu items every Friday, though I readily ate what Mom and we girls helped prepare.

Cornbread
Milk gravy
Hard boiled eggs
Beans
 
We eat fish on Friday’s here too. We either eat Salmon or Mackeral depending on what’s on sale and make fish patties with it. In addition, we have carrot salad and some form of a green vegetable. Also in our house, we try not to eat meat on Wednesdays either. Last week all of us were sick though, and fish patties got make on Friday and I don’t even remember what we had last Wednesday. So, I think it is a good practice and even if you are just offering up an extra prayer or too, it’s a good practice to have. 🙂
 
Does anyone know if there is an official list of suggestions of what to do on Fridays or is it just to do some form of sacrifice to honor the Lord?
 
ProVobis said:
Do you have a list of such luxury foods we should also avoid eating while fasting? 🙂

As far as abstinence is concerned, it seems like someone who’s never eaten anything but juicy hamburgers every day of his life would find anything else a penance. But that’s my opinion.
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What is luxury really? Can you say crab or lobster? There are some places in the world where small, poor seaside towns can capture these sea creatures. Those are not luxury. Last Friday I was going around a fastfood area of a small mall. Sushi cost the same as all the other food, thats not luxury. Even cost is relative.
 
I abstain from meat on Friday when I remember to. I can never think of something else to do as a penance.
 
Cara_Serrano said:
Is this what giving up meat was supposed to do? It didn’t work for me!
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I think the problem is you did something without understanding how and why. Its common that many follow “rules” without understanding the reason for it. I was lost too for a long tome about fasting until I get to learn more about it.
 
Cara_Serrano said:
Does anyone know if there is an official list of suggestions of what to do on Fridays or is it just to do some form of sacrifice to honor the Lord?
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No, but the traditional penance has been abstaining so that might be a good direction to go. Other than that, there are any number of other things you can do, alms giving for instance, or even volenteering at a community center or something of that sort. Whatever sacrafice you can think of that will help deepen your relationship with Christ.
 
ConstantineTG said:
I think the problem is you did something without understanding how and why. Its common that many follow “rules” without understanding the reason for it. I was lost too for a long tome about fasting until I get to learn more about it.
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Yes, as a child, I did lots of things “without understanding how and why”, just simple obedience to my parents, which carries its own graces in keeping the Fourth Commandment.

Now, as an adult, I say the Stations of the Cross on Fridays because I want to spend Fridays understanding HIs sacrifice, something that giving up meat never taught me.

My comment was not about fasting (a wonderful spiritual tool), but simply about giving up meat.
 
Today, I chose to abstain/fast. By fast I mean one medium size meal and a couple of fruit.

By the evening, I was so tired and I had stomach pains.

I decided to “offer it up” and think about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. And that made me realize that my hunger pains were a joke compared to what Christ went through.

I’m going to do the same thing on Friday.

Deny the self, deny the self. 👍
 
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