Do you miss meat on Fridays?

[Silyosha]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

 

[vera_dicere]

I used to look forward to no meat Fridays because of the way my mum cooked our fish.

Then I developed a real cracker of an allergy to sea food.

Now I really miss meat on Fridays. >_< I’m just not a big fan of vegetarian food or mac and cheese.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

I usually don’t abstain from meat on Fridays–it is not a real penance to me. I am happy most anytime with mac 'n cheese, pasta with garlic and romano cheese and maybe broccoli or spinach in it, or seafood, toasted cheese sandwiches or eggs.

 

[thistle]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

You are only required to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays during Lent.
You don’t have to abstain from eating meat on any other Fridays in the year.

 

[Silyosha]

You are only required to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays during Lent.
You don’t have to abstain from eating meat on any other Fridays in the year.

I know. But I just do it because I think it’s respectful.

 

[jmcrae]

You are only required to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays during Lent.
You don’t have to abstain from eating meat on any other Fridays in the year.

You do have to do some kind of penance, however, and abstaining from meat is easy to remember.

In my case, I don’t really miss meat (although for some reason I have a craving for hot dogs every Friday - any other day of the week, the thought of hot dogs makes me feel ill, but on Fridays, I crave them), but abstaining from meat keeps me conscious all day long that it’s the commemoration day of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross for me - in a way that other penances might not - for example, saying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary is certainly an option for Friday penance, but once you’ve completed them, you no longer have to remember that it’s Friday - which has the advantage that you can’t do anything by accident that might violate it, but at the same time, allows you to be less conscious of what day it is, and less conscious of Christ.

 

[Silyosha]

The way I see it is: Christ died for us…giving up meat for a day isn’t going to kill me.

 

[jmcrae]

The way I see it is: Christ died for us…giving up meat for a day isn’t going to kill me.

And in the Latin, it actually makes a bit of a pun - Jesus gave up His “carne” (flesh) on a Friday, so on Fridays we give up “carne” (warm-blooded meat).

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

Ehh, sometimes. I am the I-can-has-cheezburger type.

And to be honest, sometimes outside of Lent, if I have a lot of meat leftovers or something that would be otherwise wasteful NOT to eat, I pick a different penance.

 

[ElizabethPH]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

You can switch to something that will really be a challenge, for instance that would be coffee for me. Or go to Adoration, if you already go, stay for an extra hour…or commit yourself to all 5 mysteries of the rosary.

 

[Silyosha]

Ehh, sometimes. I am the I-can-has-cheezburger type.

And to be honest, sometimes outside of Lent, if I have a lot of meat leftovers or something that would be otherwise wasteful NOT to eat, I pick a different penance.

There’s nothing wrong with that. What kind of penances do you do in place of meat? I’m trying to think of other things I could do…As the above poster said, the rosary is a good idea.

 

[Charlotte1776]

I don’t mind not eating meat, but the penance part really comes from all the terrible frustration I have with finding a decent meatless recipe that both my husband and I will like. He’s not crazy about most fish - he likes salmon, hates tuna with a passion, and is apathetic towards most other kinds. So every Friday morning or Thursday evening I’m stuck flipping through the meatless sections of recipe books wondering what I want to make.

 

[Silyosha]

I don’t mind not eating meat, but the penance part really comes from all the terrible frustration I have with finding a decent meatless recipe that both my husband and I will like. He’s not crazy about most fish - he likes salmon, hates tuna with a passion, and is apathetic towards most other kinds. So every Friday morning or Thursday evening I’m stuck flipping through the meatless sections of recipe books wondering what I want to make.

Hmm…does he like mahi-mahi or tilapia? Those are very mild fish so you can flavor them however you want. One of my favorite is crusted with corn tortillas and baked.

 

[Sheepdog77]

Parmesean crusted tilpia is also very nice. I also observe the “meatless fridays”, but I am blessed with a love for seafood so I practice a no meat, at all, whatsoever, in any sorta kinda way, friday, which really stinks as my after work commute home habitually consists of a giant slim jim, a bag of bacon cheddar fries and a Mountain Dew. Just not the same without the slim jim.

Semper Serviam

 

[Domnall]

Well, the vegitarian options at my college are generally limited to tofu and starch. They offer fish on Fridays (even though we’re not a Catholic college) so sometimes I get back. I’m from Eastern MA, frozen fish in the mountains does nothing for me.

So yeah,I do miss meat on Fridays.
Though, during lent I’m doing a total food fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. That is gonna be tough…

 

[baltobetsy]

Like jmcrae and the hot dogs, I’m pretty apathetic about meat every day BUT Friday. When Friday comes, I want a nice steak or spare ribs or some other meaty delight, but the rest of the time, you could give me grilled cheese or eggs or fruit salad for dinner and I’d be perfectly happy.

I spent the first 40 years of my life thinking I was allergic to seafood due to a scary incident in childhood. I finally had allergy testing and found I was not allergic in my 40’s. Since I had a dispensation from the Friday penance all those years, I make a special effort now to observe abstinence from meat. And it’s funny, fish turned out to be less delicious than I thought it would be.

 

[Zacdecat]

Not really, it is just a little penance afterall when fish is so nice. I really like the simple tuna caserole thing…

I thought it was obligatory under pain of sin not to abstain on all Fridays, and a number of other days?

 

[Silyosha]

I agree with what several people said about only wanting to eat meat on Fridays…although I love fish, I tend to really want some chicken or something on occasion…and it’s usually a Friday.
Tofu can be really good. I put it in a ginger and teriyaki marinade and cook it on the stove with some brown rice and veggies. Yum!

 

[ProVobis]

Not really, it is just a little penance afterall when fish is so nice. I really like the simple tuna caserole thing…

I thought it was obligatory under pain of sin not to abstain on all Fridays, and a number of other days?

The issue of HAVING to abstain from meat on Fridays seems to be IMO somewhat misunderstood. When Paul VI lifted the meat abstinance from the pain of sin, he didn’t say we should eat meat on Fridays; he merely appealed to our higher levels of spirituality to perform the act of meat abstinence on that day. Instead we took it as an invitation to indulge in steaks, hamburgers, and rationalize taking others out to TGIF lunches. Again something got lost in the interpretations and Catholics lost more of their identity.

 

[Robert_Burns]

I was thinking about this today. I observe meatless Fridays because I think it’s respectful, but honestly, I really…adore fish. I like most fish better than meat, and if I have to choose between the two, fish wins. Therefore, I wonder if skipping out on meat in lew of fish is actually doing me any spiritual good.
Do you miss eating meat on Friday, or are you also in love with fish and other meatless foods and don’t mind at all?
(Not meant to be a controversial thread about meatless Fridays…just a question. )

We too observe the Complete Abstinence on Fridays and Ember days (And a few others like vigils) As for the fare - there are a number of things we eat - and I am certain that Most people know some people who are Vegetarians so it is relatively easy to do. Most Retaurants have Food for Vegetarians although you have to be careful because some places use Chicken broth and call the Soup Broccoli soup for example. But all in all I believe it is a healthy way to be both Spiritually and Physically.

I appreciate all the food that GOD provides and I think abstaining is a way we can thank him.

Pax