Eating meat on Friday

[mikeledes]

Is eating meat a Friday a mortal sin, especially it it is willfully done?

Thanks,
MicHAEL

 

[davidv]

Is eating meat a Friday a mortal sin, especially it it is willfully done?

Thanks,
MicHAEL

1. Is it a grave matter? I don’t thick so.
2. Do you know that it is sinful? This should be obvious, it is a clear commandment of the Church.
3. Did you do it anyway? If yes, it is a sin.

 

[DallasCatholic]

To clarify davidv’s response…it is sinful but probably not a mortal sin. I would say that you should consult a Priest that you trust to get a definitive answer. One could argue that deliberatly eating meat on Friday is intentionally disobeying Church teaching. In that case while eating meat on Friday (during Lent) might be a sin, the bigger and possibly mortal sin would be willfully disobeying the Church.

 

[scaron]

willfullness is the key, tho.

If you forget and have a Hot Dog at a spring training game, this is not a sin.

 

[BobP123]

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. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

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.

 

[thistle]

Is eating meat a Friday a mortal sin, especially it it is willfully done?

Thanks,
MicHAEL

Abstinance from meat is only required on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent and if meat is eaten on these Fridays by accident or forgetfulness it is not a mortal sin.

On all the other Fridays of the year it is not a requirement to abstain from meat. You can choose your penance.

 

[TOP]

So if you know the Church doesn’t want you to eat meat on friday and you do , it is a mortal sin? What if you didn’t think it was a sin in the first place? Tim

 

[JimG]

So if you know the Church doesn’t want you to eat meat on friday and you do , it is a mortal sin? What if you didn’t think it was a sin in the first place? Tim

If you didn’t think it was a sin, then you lacked the knowledge for it to be mortally sinful.

But, if you were to say to yourself, “Yes, I am a Catholic, and I fully realize that one of the commandments of the Church is to abstain from meat during Fridays of Lent, and I know that this is a Friday of Lent, and I say to heck with the Church and with Lent and with penance, I am going to eat this Big Mac anyway!” then you’ve probably met all the conditions for a mortal sin.

 

[puzzleannie]

Is eating meat a Friday a mortal sin, especially it it is willfully done?

Thanks,
MicHAEL

only if the wilful act including the deliberate intent to flout the discipline of the Church. For instance at the home of another person who would be distressed or hurt if you did not eat the food served, you decided in charity to eat a bit of the meat, and to make up for it in another penitential way later, you had intent but not to sin. The sin, if there is any, lies in the deliberate disobedience to the Church. If that is the attitude, the severity depends on the degree of the dissent and disobedience.

 

[thistle]

So if you know the Church doesn’t want you to eat meat on friday and you do , it is a mortal sin? What if you didn’t think it was a sin in the first place? Tim

It depends what you mean. If you didn’t know it was a grave sin then you would not have committed a mortal sin by eating meat on the designated Fridays.
However, if you know the Church teaches it is a grave sin but you feel it should not be a grave sin then that is a different matter. In such a situation you would be committing a mortal sin by eating meat on the Fridays designed for abstinance.

 

[gontenks]

It is not sin to eat or not to eat meat during Ash Wednesday and Holy Friday. It is againts the scripture:

1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

1Timothy 4:1-5

 

[jmcrae]

It depends what you mean. If you didn’t know it was a grave sin then you would not have committed a mortal sin by eating meat on the designated Fridays.
However, if you know the Church teaches it is a grave sin but you feel it should not be a grave sin then that is a different matter. In such a situation you would be committing a mortal sin by eating meat on the Fridays designed for abstinance.

Just FYI, all Fridays are penitential Fridays. On Fridays outside of Lent, it is permissible to substitute a different penance instead of abstinence from meat.

For myself, I find it easier to abstain from meat on every Friday of the year, rather than try to think of something else to do every week. But if I forget that it’s Friday and I eat meat for some reason, then I do a different penance when I remember about it, such as the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, or the Litany of the Sacred Heart, etc.

 

[MH84]

What if you intend to not eat meat on Friday, and somehow forget, do you have to perform another act of penance?

 

[Joyousguard]

What if you intend to not eat meat on Friday, and somehow forget, do you have to perform another act of penance?

Try your best to observe no meat on Friday. I think all of us at on epoint or another have forgotten and accidentaly have eaten meat.

Sometimes you may even go to a friends house for dinner and they only offer meat. Do you refuse to eat? What if you have too many leftovers in fridge and they may go bad?

The bottom line is simple, try not to eat meat on the days you are not suppose to. If you forget and do, or eat it at a friends house for dinner, or have to eat the left overs in the fridge because they will go bad then make sure to include this in your confession. We try to do what is required of us. I think eating hamburgers at dinner when you are invited over by a friend is the lesser of two evils then saying you can’t and then munching on some rolls instead and hurting your friend who cooked. We can only do what we can do. There are almost always exceptions to the rules. Try to obey them to the best of your ability. When there comes a dilema and you forget or must eat meat then simply confes it to your priest but I would not sweat it too much. God is very understanding.

 

[Teeliumtrozzle]

Jesus really likes us to eat FISH on Friday,and not meat, because several of his friends were fishermen, and he cooked fish after rising from the dead.And remember 1 Corinthians 10:31.

But I don’t think its a sin if you forget-that could happen to a bishop.

 

[thistle]

Jesus really likes us to eat FISH on Friday,and not meat, because several of his friends were fishermen, and he cooked fish after rising from the dead.And remember 1 Corinthians 10:31.

But I don’t think its a sin if you forget-that could happen to a bishop.

It is NOT a teaching that we should eat fish on Fridays and neither did Jesus state this.

 

[kentuckyliz]

1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

1Timothy 4:1-5

Right. The Church has never mandated vegetarianism. To some, vegetarianism is their religion.

Did you see the movie “Super Size Me”? I am amused by the moralistic attitude towards food that Morgan Spurlock’s shack-up girlfriend (a vegan chef) displays…and yet in the movie she talks about her fornicatin’ sex life with Morgan in detail with millions of strangers who will see the movie. Ha!!!

Jesus said his followers would not fast while the Bridegroom was with them, but they would fast again after He was gone.

So yes, the Church’s discipline for certain days for fast and abstinence are scriptural, from Christ’s own lips.

All the apostolic Christians do it. I have an Orthodox friend who fasts about half the calendar year! No dairy, eggs, meat, cheese, fish, oil, wine, etc. in the stricter fasts. Yikes. I don’t think I could be Orthodox. It’s challenging enough to have the what, six days of fasting and/or abstinence that we have? Indeed, Catholics, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

 

[jmcrae]

Right. The Church has never mandated vegetarianism. To some, vegetarianism is their religion.

Did you see the movie “Super Size Me”? I am amused by the moralistic attitude towards food that Morgan Spurlock’s shack-up girlfriend (a vegan chef) displays…and yet in the movie she talks about her fornicatin’ sex life with Morgan in detail with millions of strangers who will see the movie. Ha!!!

Jesus said his followers would not fast while the Bridegroom was with them, but they would fast again after He was gone.

So yes, the Church’s discipline for certain days for fast and abstinence are scriptural, from Christ’s own lips.

All the apostolic Christians do it. I have an Orthodox friend who fasts about half the calendar year! No dairy, eggs, meat, cheese, fish, oil, wine, etc. in the stricter fasts. Yikes. I don’t think I could be Orthodox. It’s challenging enough to have the what, six days of fasting and/or abstinence that we have? Indeed, Catholics, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Well, somewhere between 52-54 Fridays, and then Ash Wednesday, so definitely more than 6, but also definitely nothing arduous - no one needs to eat meat seven days a week (that’s a recipe for a heart attack if ever there was one) and it’s easy enough to schedule Friday to be one of your meatless days.

A lot of Catholics also abstain from meat every Wednesday, but this is an optional devotional activity, not required by the Church. (There are some religious orders that require Wednesday abstinence from meat in addition to Friday, though - I think the Carmelites require this.)