Eating meat purposely on Friday

  • Thread starter Thread starter SeriousQuestion
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SeriousQuestion

Guest
If you know not to eat meat on Friday but you do, is it a Venial or Mortal sin?
 
It depends where you live, I think; in Canada we are to abstain from meat on Fridays but we may choose to substitute that for other “special acts of charity or piety” instead.

Now, would failing to observe a precept of the Church be a mortal sin? I’m not sure. It would clearly be a sin, and something that should just not be done. There could of course be some legitimate reason-- I can’t think of many practical examples but if meat were the only thing to eat or something one would be exempt. Similar to the obligation to attend Mass I suppose, although deliberately missing Mass would be a grave sin, As for intentionally disobeying a precept of abstinence I’m not sure, but I’m inclined to say yes.
 
Last edited:
Joined 30 mins ago and thinks the Popemobile is funny lookin.
I’m guessing these are kind of spoofy questions.
But yeah, in the US we can eat meat on Fridays that are not in Lent.
 
OP joined CAF about thirty minutes ago.

OP has asked two rather…odd questions in less than five minutes.

Sorry to cast my aspersions, but methinks SQ…might not be.
 
Correct, but not forbidden as it used to be. However, I have reason to believe the OP is fooling around here. Just joined and is asking sort of juvenile things on his threads.
 
If the Friday is a solemnity (e.g. last Friday), no penance required. We ate meat at every meal. 😃
 
Disobeying the legitimate authority of the church is serious
 
SeriousQuestion said:
If you know not to eat meat on Friday but you do, is it a Venial or Mortal sin?
Click to expand...
If it is Good Friday (or on Ash Wednesday), when knowingly and willingly done, without a dispensation, and in a jurisdiction where it is required, it would be mortal (since it is grave matter).
 
DeniseNY said:
Ok. That makes your advice all the more concerning.
Click to expand...
I live in the U.S., so, per the instructions of the Bishops, I observe a penance on all Fridays but forego the meatless option. The Bishops here have given Catholics the right to choose which observation of penance is right for them.

I personally don’t believe that my diet will come in to question on judgement day, but understand the Church’s teaching. It seems like such a trivial matter… but i’m open to being convinced otherwise… what are the reasons?

There really isn’t a commandment at play… so it’s hard to come up with a reason for this rule… other than we’ve always done it this way; which of course isn’t a good reason.

All of this is outside of Lent for the purpose of discussion

The discussion does make me think a bit about what is an isn’t grave matter… how do we determine what is grave matter?
 
Last edited:
If you eat meat on on a Lenten Friday, or any other day of full abstinence, then it is a mortal sin to knowingly, willingly and with sufficient premeditation to eat meat on one of those days. If you are in the United States or Canada, you must do some penance on Fridays throughout the year. You can eat meat on those Fridays throughout the year, as long as you do some sort of penance. Personally, I find it easier just to abstain from meat on Fridays throughout the year though.
 
That depends. What is the law promulgated by the bishops’ conference in your nation of residence? In the United States, for instance, the faithful are not bound by the law of Friday abstinence but MUST (not should) offer another penance of comparable gravity if they choose not to abstain. So what is a penance of comparable gravity? I never quite figured that one out, and thus keep the customary law of Friday abstinence.

In short, if you ate meat purposely (not through negligence by forgetting it was Friday) and did not attempt to offer a comparable penance, then it is best to lay it out before your confessor and seek his judgment. It might be wise to ask him exactly what your nation’s Friday laws are and, if abstinence is now optional, what a good alternative penance may be. In my view, abstinence from meat on Friday ought to be made universal again, if only so as to avoid this type of confusion.
 
Speaking as someone who lives in the UK, I can tell you that eating meat on a Friday is not considered a mortal sin. In fact, our parish regularly has ‘hotpot’ (I.e. meat) suppers on a Friday.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top