Do you eat meat on Friday?

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I wasn’t aware that Catholics didn’t eat meat on Fridays with the exception of Lent. I was raised in post Vatatican II.
 
I have started to plan our menus with Friday as our meatless day again. I always keep in mind the solemnity of Friday as the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary help to put me in that mindset…

ORA,
Michaela
 
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IM3RD:
If we as individuals start to decide on an individual &/or small group level what to believe about our faith and our to apply such issues then essentially we are nothing more than “Protestant Catholics.”
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Eeek! :eek: I certainly hope I am not giving anyone the impression that I am “deciding on an individual and/or small group level what to believe about our faith!”

Troy, perhaps I am not making myself clear enough? *It is my understanding, based on CHURCH TEACHING, that the Friday fast is still obligatory. *

Since I am not an expert on Canon law and do not have the resources at my fingertips, I am going to defer this question to those who know better than myself in the “Apologetics” forum.

Please forgive me if I don’t participate in this discussion anymore, as I am on the verge of going into labor and may or not be on the computer in the near future!
 
Phew, apparently this issue has been discussed in the Apologetics forum. I typed in “meat on Friday” in the search category. Please do so yourself if you are so inclined to read some additional good discussion on the matter.

Really, I wasn’t making this up. 🙂 Here is the documentation:

Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed on ,of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year of age. The law of fasting, however, binds all those who have attained their majority until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors of souls and parents are to take care that minors not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are also educated in a genuine sense of penance.

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

Depending on where you live, there may be differences. In the U.S. one has a choice of abstaining from meat or doing some other penance EVERY FRIDAY - all the Fridays during Lent are still meatless with no other penance choice instead of abstaining from meat.

The key here is Canon 1251. Here is another translation: 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.
 
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ktm:
…So in Lent I will abstain, but other Fridays of the year I’m doing something more pious. Yesterday I said an extra Rosary instead as a form of penance and also went to Mass.
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I think it’s too bad we think of saying a Rosary and going to Mass as a kind of penance or suffering…

Kieron
 
Dang Jamie, you’re as stubborn and hard-headed as me it appears!! 😛

If that is the law, then so be it. However, I assume that it is written *somewhere *that it is only a Lenten practice… On the other hand, maybe my beloved priest is just mistaken.

Thanks for the Canon Law sections supporting your point. I stand corrected. (unless of course their are addendums that you didn’t post, and which I don’t wish to search out!!)

:tiphat:
 
Boy am I glad to see some conversation on this topic! I have tried to abstain from meat on all Fridays for years now. Sometimes I get lazy or forget what day it is( busy Mom syndrome :o ). Just like many other topics, I thought I was alone! Glad this is a topic once again. 🙂
 
Sometimes the Lord has to hit me on the head with a hammer! I only just felt the blow.

I made the commitment to fast on Fridays here on this thread and then promptly failed to recognize that today, the day that was supposed to be my first fast, is Friday!
I know what you’re thinking. “How can you not know what day of the week it is?” It is sad…but being on vacation for most of the summer, I occasionally, ok frequently, loose track of the days. My husband is a stay at home …ah, heck, forget about all of that. I failed. I failed miserably.

So we are at the restaurant this afternoon with my folks. I ordered…are you ready? I ordered** sirloin tips(!)**. My mother ordered the same. My husband ordered a burger. Dad ordered…ah never mind. Not pertinent.

Our meals arrived and my tips were cold. I sent them back. The waitress returned with my tips and they were just as they were before! Brrr! (You’d think I would have figured it out by now, right? I mean, Mom’s were piping hot the first go around!) When our waitress returned the THIRD time with the tips which were still too cool for me to enjoy, I ate them. I received NO SATISFACTION from that meal…thanks be to God. It’s a shame that it took so long for me to figure it out.

I will do better next week. :o
 
I always abstain from red meat on Fridays during the Lenten Season but not outside of it, even my atheist hubby now does the same out of respect for me. I was most unimpressed when my in-laws fed my young son meat one Friday during Lent when he was staying at their house they knew i didnt approve of it and done it anyway:mad: .
 
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Anonymous:
Sometimes the Lord has to hit me on the head with a hammer! I only just felt the blow.
I received NO SATISFACTION from that meal…thanks be to God. It’s a shame that it took so long for me to figure it out.

I will do better next week. :o
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LOL, anonymous! Don’t be so hard on yourself! Guess what I ate yesterday? Pepperoni pizza. :rolleyes: I was starving, that’s what we had, so I ate it and simply offered up an alternate sacrifice. I don’t take a really hard line with this – why not just offer up a good sacrifice today? 😃
 
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jc413:
I don’t take a really hard line with this
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Well… you certainly took a “hard line” with me about it!!

😛

After all this talk, it seems that I was the only one who enjoyed a couple of salmon filets and about a pound of jumbo shrimp yesterday… By the way, if you don’t already know, Sam’s Club (assuming you have one nearby) has this AWESOME “Jammin’ Jerk Shrimp” made by a company called “Margaritaville” in the frozen section. I highly recommend it.

👍
 
Can. 1250 The days and times of penance for the universal Church are each Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

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.

Can. 1253 The Episcopal Conference can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

Our **Episcopal Conference **has determine the following:

Penitential Days
  • Ash Wednesday—This day marks the beginning of the Lenten season. The imposition of ashes is an ancient penitential practice symbolizing our dependence upon God’s mercy and forgiveness. Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence in the Church.
  • Good Friday—Christ suffered and died for our salvation on Friday. On the Friday that we call “Good,” the Church gathers to commemorate Jesus’ Passion and death. Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence. The Good Friday fast is the Paschal fast—a fast of anticipation and longing for the Passover of the Lord, which should continue, when possible, through Holy Saturday.
  • Fridays During Lent—In the United States, the tradition of abstaining from meat on each Friday during Lent is maintained.
  • Fridays Throughout the Year—In memory of Christ’s suffering and death, the Church prescribes making each Friday throughout the year a penitential day. All of us are urged to prepare appropriately for that weekly Easter that comes with each Sunday.
To read the whole artical go to usccb.org/dpp/penitential.htm and have a burger.

There are other forms of penance that can be done to grow closer to our Lord. Besides is giving up meat a sacrafice when you can go out for seafood.
 
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reidtgang:
There are other forms of penance that can be done to grow closer to our Lord. Besides is giving up meat a sacrafice when you can go out for seafood.
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My sentiments exactly. That’s why I said I don’t “take a hard line” with refraining from meat, since that’s the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law is to remember Our Lord’s suffering on Friday and to make it a day of penance, and that is what I try to do.
 
A few months before John Cardinal O’Connor died…he asked everyone to give up meat on All Fridays for the intention of ending abortion.Ever since then, our family has given up eating meat on Fridays.

Mary
 
Mary, thank you! I didn’t know that. A worthy intention indeed… I will have to pass that tidbit on.
 
oh, Mary, that is a wonderful thought! It will probably modivate me to keep meatless Fridays.
 
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jc413:
We just decide what is most prudent whatever the situation is (for example, we do not abstain and don’t even mention it to our Baptist and rather anti-Catholic side of the family. Just isn’t worth the battle.) But I finally said to my Catholic MIL “We don’t usually eat meat on Friday.” She said, “oh!” kind of surprised, but now just accepts it as part of our overall weirdness:rolleyes: .
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It is an act of charity to eat what is put in front of you.
 
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