I always forget

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clarkest

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I was raised as in a protestant family and we rarely prayed before meals, obviously never made the sign of the cross, and never fasted from anything ever let alone from meat one day a week. A couple years ago I was confirmed as a Catholic and I’ve made lots of changes to my prayer life and level of church attendance and such, but I just cannot ever remember to abstain from meat on Fridays and I usually forget to make the sign of the cross before I pray and praying before meals just doesn’t happen either. I haven’t been able to make these habits. I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have.

I don’t beat myself up about it because I honestly forget, I then subsitute with another penance like a Rosary. But I want to remember. Old habits die hard… I’ve thought, maybe I’ll go completely vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about meatless Fridays anymore, but that’s not really practical for me. How do we build these habits after decades of doing things another way?
 
Might be good to place a holy card at your table or wherever you eat. That way when you sit down you will see the card and remember to pray.
 
clarkest said:
I was raised as in a protestant family and we rarely prayed before meals, obviously never made the sign of the cross, and never fasted from anything ever let alone from meat one day a week. A couple years ago I was confirmed as a Catholic and I’ve made lots of changes to my prayer life and level of church attendance and such, but I just cannot ever remember to abstain from meat on Fridays and I usually forget to make the sign of the cross before I pray and praying before meals just doesn’t happen either. I haven’t been able to make these habits. I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have.

I don’t beat myself up about it because I honestly forget, I then subsitute with another penance like a Rosary. But I want to remember. Old habits die hard… I’ve thought, maybe I’ll go completely vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about meatless Fridays anymore, but that’s not really practical for me. How do we build these habits after decades of doing things another way?
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Friday: while in the US it is not mandatory to abstain from meat as long as we do some penance, it has been asked by the US bishops that we abstain from meat and that we fast every Friday of the year for special intentions regarding family and the culture of life.

You can help yourself remember this by some sort of note, as others suggested. It has happened to myself too…once I went with a friend for lunch and we were happily speaking of whether to buy a burger or chicken…and only when I was about to place the order I recalled it was Friday! It is a matter of getting used to it.

As for praying before (and after) meals, this is a good habit, but nevertheless a habit we must acquire! Just do it, and if you remember half-way through the meal, do it still. On the long run it will become spontaneous.

The Lord knows that you want to honor Him, offer penance in reparation and on behalf of souls, and honor the precepts of Holy Church. It is always the intention that matters most in the eyes of God. As long as the intention is in your heart, good things will happen!
 
Personally I think,

Just, do your best. God understands.

And help those in need, love God & your neighbour as yourself. Have faith.

A prayer card on the table would help, yes. You will get in the habit.I just say ‘Thank you Father for these your gifts’. Maybe use your own words.

And it should be practical to become vegetarian all the time, I have been vegan over 20 years, its easy!

God bless+
 
I like the idea of a prayer card. Put it where you usually eat.

A help I use is a to-do list. I put on the list not only the usual chores, but good habits I want to foster & bad habits I want to get rid of. I’ve found that writing things down helps me remember them.
 
It took my family a year to get Friday abstinence down to where we remembered each Friday that it was Friday and that we shouldn’t eat meat! Seems so simple… but even now, 10 years later, we forget one or the other!

Just repeat… repeat… repeat… and after about 52 tries or more you will start to get it 🙂 And even then you will sometimes forget!
 
clarkest said:
I was raised as in a protestant family and we rarely prayed before meals, obviously never made the sign of the cross, and never fasted from anything ever let alone from meat one day a week. A couple years ago I was confirmed as a Catholic and I’ve made lots of changes to my prayer life and level of church attendance and such, but I just cannot ever remember to abstain from meat on Fridays and I usually forget to make the sign of the cross before I pray and praying before meals just doesn’t happen either. I haven’t been able to make these habits. I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have.

I don’t beat myself up about it because I honestly forget, I then substitute with another penance like a Rosary. But I want to remember. Old habits die hard… I’ve thought, maybe I’ll go completely vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about meatless Fridays anymore, but that’s not really practical for me. How do we build these habits after decades of doing things another way?
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There MUST be an app for that!!!

Catholic Mealtime Prayer Reminder 😉

Seriously, use your phone to remind you to pray. It takes time to solidify a new habit. The fasting from meat is tough for me to remember too. I do better during Lent, and now I rarely make a mistake then. The rest of the year…😊

You’re a relatively new Catholic. It takes time. 🙂
 
clarkest said:
I was raised as in a protestant family and we rarely prayed before meals, obviously never made the sign of the cross, and never fasted from anything ever let alone from meat one day a week. A couple years ago I was confirmed as a Catholic and I’ve made lots of changes to my prayer life and level of church attendance and such, but I just cannot ever remember to abstain from meat on Fridays and I usually forget to make the sign of the cross before I pray and praying before meals just doesn’t happen either. I haven’t been able to make these habits. I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have.

I don’t beat myself up about it because I honestly forget, I then subsitute with another penance like a Rosary. But I want to remember. Old habits die hard… I’ve thought, maybe I’ll go completely vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about meatless Fridays anymore, but that’s not really practical for me. How do we build these habits after decades of doing things another way?
Click to expand...
If you would like to find some vegetarian recipes please take a look at our group - Catholic Vegetarians and Vegans - 😉
 
clarkest said:
I was raised as in a protestant family and we rarely prayed before meals, obviously never made the sign of the cross, and never fasted from anything ever let alone from meat one day a week. A couple years ago I was confirmed as a Catholic and I’ve made lots of changes to my prayer life and level of church attendance and such, but I just cannot ever remember to abstain from meat on Fridays and I usually forget to make the sign of the cross before I pray and praying before meals just doesn’t happen either. I haven’t been able to make these habits. I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have.

I don’t beat myself up about it because I honestly forget, I then subsitute with another penance like a Rosary. But I want to remember. Old habits die hard… I’ve thought, maybe I’ll go completely vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about meatless Fridays anymore, but that’s not really practical for me. How do we build these habits after decades of doing things another way?
Click to expand...
While it is good to get into the habit of doing these things (and you will no doubt aquire the habit) please remember they are not required.
Most countries do not require abstaining from meat on Fridays but rather you do some form of penance of which abstaining is a choice.

As for your comment ** “I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have”** where did you hear this? First, there is no such thing and second what possible thing should you not have eaten?
 
thistle said:
While it is good to get into the habit of doing these things (and you will no doubt aquire the habit) please remember they are not required.
Most countries do not require abstaining from meat on Fridays but rather you do some form of penance of which abstaining is a choice.

As for your comment ** “I always remember I’m not supposed to eat meat about half an hour after I’ve eaten something I shouldn’t have”** where did you hear this? First, there is no such thing and second what possible thing should you not have eaten?
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I’m not American, I don’t think my country’s bishops have loosened the requirement of what to do for Friday penance. I’m Canadian, and my understanding is that we have no choice but to abstain from meat on Fridays.

And what I meant in the quote you reposted was that I remember I’m not supposed to eat meat half an hour after I’ve already eaten a steak or chicken or whatever.
 
The idea of the prayer card is a very good one. Also, pray to your Angel Guardian to remind you to pray before meals and to abstain from meat. God bless you.
 
clarkest said:
I’m not American, I don’t think my country’s bishops have loosened the requirement of what to do for Friday penance. I’m Canadian, and my understanding is that we have no choice but to abstain from meat on Fridays.

And what I meant in the quote you reposted was that I remember I’m not supposed to eat meat half an hour after I’ve already eaten a steak or chicken or whatever.
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I still don’t understand what that means. There is no such rule.
 
Thistle,

The rule is that we are to abstain from meat on Fridays, even outside of Lent. That rule was never lifted (some think it was lifted by Vat. II) but we can, in the US, substitute some other penance on Friday instead of the abstinence.

The poster is just saying that s/he sometime only remembers the Friday rule a half hour after s/he’s eaten meat. As in, “Oops, it’s Friday, I shouldn’t have had that burger.”
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Thistle,

The rule is that we are to abstain from meat on Fridays, even outside of Lent. That rule was never lifted (some think it was lifted by Vat. II) but we can, in the US, substitute some other penance on Friday instead of the abstinence.

The poster is just saying that s/he sometime only remembers the Friday rule a half hour after s/he’s eaten meat. As in, “Oops, it’s Friday, I shouldn’t have had that burger.”
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Ah. Okay. I get it. Age must be getting to me.
 
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