Do you eat meat on Friday?

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kieron:
I think it’s too bad we think of saying a Rosary and going to Mass as a kind of penance or suffering…

Kieron
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A priest once told me to go to an extra mass as a penance, so I see no problem with it. We are to perform acts of penance and piety. I think what I am doing/did was quite acceptable and more spiritually fulfilling than not eating a ham sandwich for lunch, as I did today.

Saying prayers is the most common form of penance handed out in confession, isn’t it?

Also of interest from Jimmy Akin’s blog:

jimmyakin.org/2004/07/since_tomorrow_.html
The norms–the part of the document that would create a legal obligation if there was one–thus fails to do so. As a result, there is no obligation in the United States to practice penance on Friday, but Friday remains a day of penance which the bishops have urged all to do penance and, in particular, recommended the continued practice of abstience.
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Pass the steak! And the chicken, the veal, the horse, the sheep, the goat, the elephant, the turkey, the whale, the bear, the giraffe, the snake, the ram…
 
I have always abstained from eating meat during Lent.

And,in all honesty, I don’t always abstain from meat on Friday’s mostly because I offer other things as a sacrifice and I love fish so it isn’t much of a sacrifice for me… Plus I only learned recently that we are still bound to abstain as in the old days. Mea Culpa…:o
 
Never on Friday. I realize that I can substitute something else, but I just feel weird if I slip up.(like two weeks ago)

Most Catholics think that Vatican II did away with the requirement of not eating meat on any Friday of the year. Most think it is now just Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent that we cannot eat meat.

This is what the Code of Canon Law says about the matter:

Canon 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.

Canon Law still requires that Catholics not eat meat on Fridays!

Of course, most Episcopal Conferences have determined that, instead of abstaining from meat, Catholics may perform an act of penance of their choosing. But, do you ever remember to abstain from a particular food or do some other penance on Fridays? And, at any rate, the main rule is still to abstain from meat on Fridays, the performance of another penance instead is an optional alternative.

It’s very interesting to note that the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (the United States’ Episcopal Conference) is currently debating whether to rescind the determination and require all Catholics to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. The Bishops are considering that a return to meatless Fridays for all Catholics would be of benefit because:

It is an expression of one’s Catholicity; and
In reparation for the grave sin of abortion.
 
I try to not eat meat every Friday, but I can’t because my mom and dad want to know why. If I tell them why, they’ll think I’m obsessing over my religion; however, my mom does give up meat every Friday during Lent, so I guess that’s a time to do it.
 
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luckyirishguy14:
I try to not eat meat every Friday, but I can’t because my mom and dad want to know why. If I tell them why, they’ll think I’m obsessing over my religion; however, my mom does give up meat every Friday during Lent, so I guess that’s a time to do it.
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Example is the Catholic Way!
 
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ally:
I’ve been vegetarian for over 16 years and it has been way too easy. The meat substitutes are too delicious to be a penance. One of our favorite “fun” foods is “Amy’s Roasted Vegetable Pizza with no cheese”. It sounds boring but it is heavenly. All the Amy’s vegetarian foods are very good. Because I enjoy the veggies so much I decided during lent 2003 that I would start daily mass during lent and on Fridays. When I found out how satisfying daily mass and communion were back in '03 I continued and haven’t stopped yet.
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The “Amy’s” veg foods are the best! My carnivore husband even loves them. My favorites are the frozen pizza with pesto and sliced tomatoes, and the pot pies.

Abstaining from meat is not a sacrifice for me- I love fish and vegetarian meals. If I wasn’t married to a carnivore I would likely be a vegetarian. In fact, it’s a sacrifice when I have to eat red meat at someone else’s house in order to not give offense- I end up with stomach/digestive problems for several days after. So I have to come up with something else to sacrifice. Maybe I’ll start saying the Rosary on Fridays.
 
My husband and I have always abstained from meat on Fridays throughout the year. It is actually difficult if we travel because not all restaurants offer meatless meals. It is also good for your health. We also try and eat fish at least twice a week on a Tues or Wed along with Friday. This might be helpful to those of you who are looking for guidance about this.

Taken in part from NCCB Complementary Norms on Penance and Abstinence of November 18, 1966,
  1. Among the works of voluntary self-denial and personal penance which we especially commend to our people for the future observance of Friday, EVEN THOUGH WE HEREBY TERMINATE THE TRADITIONAL LAW OF ABSTINENCE AS BINDING UNDER PAIN OF SIN, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday*, we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat*. We do so in the hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law. Our expectation is based on the following considerations:
a. We shall thus freely and out of love for Christ Crucified show our solidarity with the generations of believers to whom this practice frequently became, especially in times of persecution and of great poverty, no mean evidence of fidelity in Christ and his Church.

b. We shall thus also remind ourselves that as Christians, although immersed in the world and sharing its life, we must preserve a saving and necessary difference from the spirit of the world. Our deliberate, personal abstinence from meat, more especially because no longer required by law, will be an outward sign of inward spiritual values that we cherish.

You can find the whole document at
cin.org/mateo/9512291.html
 
A Jewish man moved into a Catholic neighborhood and cook stake every Friday. The Catholics worked on this man for several years until the Jewish man finally converted.

At the Baptism the Priest sprinkled the New Catholic and said, “Born a Jew, raised a Jew, NOW a Catholic.”

The following Friday the smell of fresh charred stake streamed through out the neighborhood. The Catholics found their newly Baptized Catholic Brother cooking a steak and sprinkling the meat saying, “Born a cow, raised a cow, now a FISH.”

ooooo … I love that one. :rotfl:
 
Originally Posted by 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: .
*
It is an act of charity to eat what is put in front of you.

~Agreed. Do it all the time. IBut she often asked, “what would you like for dinner” when we used to visit more often so I figured I’d be honest.
 
Yes I eat meat on Friday except during lent. Usually then I’ll have fish or salad or something.
 
This is one of those things that I grew up with no knowledge of. My guess is that, before I was born, the message came down from USCCB that “You dont have to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent if you perform some other penance instead.” But by the time it reached my mother’s ears it got shortened to “You don’t have to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent.”

In the intervening years, I left the Church and have only recently returned. In my research at Lent to determine what was and wasn’t meat, I discovered the true requirement for non-Lenten Fridays.

At first, I tried performing a different penitential act on Fridays, but circumstances would often act against me, so it would end up being not performed. So I have, in the last month or so, returned to no meat on Fridays. Being the meat-eater that I am, it is truly a challenge to find appropriate Friday meals.
 
Tyler Smedley:
I try my best but sometimes I am halfway through that wopper when I realize that it is friday. Then I feel bad because I cant waste food. What to do what to do…
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HaHaHa! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who’s had that happen. It happened to me this last Friday. I took my nephews to the pool to play and my sister-in-law ordered a hamburger for us to split. I took one bite and thought “Oh, rats!” while I looked at the date on my watch.
 
Mary Donahue:
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
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Right on, Mary. I actually gave up meat for a year for that same purpose. Obviously, I didn’t succeed…at least not yet.

The thing that I don’t understand is if giving up meat on Friday is “no big deal” as some posters contend, why not do that in addition to some other penance? I suspect abstaining from meat is probably more painful than we choose to admit.
 
Yes I do. Always.

On Fridays some of us go out to lunch from our school. It would be so much easier for me to order a meat dish and God only knows how tempting the dishes are!!

I choose, however, to remind myself of my great need to be thankful and sincerely repentant.

I have to say it is difficult and therefore worth it.

At home we all (kids included) have fish on Friday. Has always been the same in our 9 years of married life together!! No intention of changing it.
 
No, not for about two years when I found out that we were still encouraged to do some sort of penance. Although, if visiting and meat is served, I will eat out of charity and offer something else instead. Oh, and sometimes I will give up something else, like reading or the computor … much harder than meat for me!!
 
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Galieo:
Right on, Mary. I actually gave up meat for a year for that same purpose. Obviously, I didn’t succeed…at least not yet.
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Wow. You must have no idea of the power of your prayer and sacrifice. You have succeeded. What is needed is more people who are willing to be so successful!

God has blest your efforts!
 
Mary Donahue:
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
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I didn’t realize that the Friday abstinence was still on the books until about a year ago when a friend pointed it out to me. He said it wasn’t obligatory to abstain from meat IF we did something sacrificial in place of it. I gave it some thought. I am a piano teacher and I have a family who home schools their four children. I’d been teaching the 3 oldest and the fourth was getting to the age where she could start. She was so excited about taking lessons. I thought it was going to be hard for the parents to pay for four so I decided I’d charge for the 3 oldest and give a scholarship to the youngest. This is a good hardship for me as I am pretty poor right now. Besides, I couldn’t very well keep looking at that sweet face, pining away to learn the piano, and let money (or lack thereof) stand in her way. (As an aside, she ALWAYS comes prepared for her lesson, loves to practice and loves her teacher…lol!) On holidays or when we have to change the day of their lessons, I abstain from meat.

And, now, as a result of hearing what Mary had to say, I will do both. I am the director of a crisis pregnancy center. I have seen the effects of abortion up close and I pray every day that abortionists will lay down their weapons of destruction. Abstaining from meat is the least I can do for this cause.
 
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