If meatless FRi would become the norm, how would you feel about it

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It wouldn’t bother me. I hardly eat meat anyway, so it’s no sacrifice.
 
I think if you are a vegan or vegetarian you might consider something else because it is supposed to be an act of penance… Our Holy Father doesn’t eat meat but I’ll bet he finds an substitute for Fridays …not sure what it might be…He is such a good man
 
Joannm said:
It wouldn’t bother me. I hardly eat meat anyway, so it’s no sacrifice.
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I think that’s the case for many people. The bishops of England and Wales asked people who don’t eat meat regularly to give up some other food that they do eat regularly.
 
Abstaining from meat is not a penance at all for me. I do eat meat and enjoy it, but I am happy eating many different forms of vegetarian food. That said, I find that Fridays are most often the days that my husband and I are invited out to eat in a group situation where we don’t get any choice, and refusing to eat at all would just be unsociable, or we are hosting someone else for whom a meat meal is normal. I don’t cook fish very well, and I don’t want my guests to be doing a penance chosen by me at my house. So I am glad that the rule was changed. If the rule was re-instated I would make an effort to offer up the social difficulties to God’s glory, but the part about refraining from meat would not be a sacrifice for me.
 
If we are caught in a situation as you describe we just eat everything but the meat…It really isn’t hard ,unless it is stir fry, or something like that…then we think it is better to eat it ,and not hurt someones feelings, and we do something else instead
 
wsxyz said:
Since all Catholics are already obligated to do penance on Friday, with the abstinence from meat being the preferred means to do so, the question is really “How would you feel about abstaining meat INSTEAD of the other Friday penance you do?”

You do penance on Friday right? It is an obligation.
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Exactly! It has always been required to do some sort of penance on Fridays. It is helpful for us to abstain from meat, because you have to think about it a bit and are reminded at least twice a day that you are supposed to be doing penance.

I do think there is a value in all Catholics doing the same, visible act. It is easy to slide away from any observance when what you do can be ‘hidden’. So I was happy to see the UK bishops bring back the obloigation to no-meat Fridays.
 
The poorest widow who puts two coins towards charity is just as generous as a king who gives troves of gold. Even the smallest act of faith will bring you closer to God, and giving up meat, though a seemingly tiny feat, on every Friday, just shows that you are willing to allow Christ to be in your thoughts on the most common of occasions. So yes, I think it should be done, and it is more than just a simple thing done- it represents, as things in our faith do, something far greater. We don’t just eat bread and drink wine- we consume the body and blood of our Lord Christ. This symbolism and representation of holy things in everyday objects is, again, showing that we allow Christ into our lives on a daily basis.
 
wsxyz said:
Since all Catholics are already obligated to do penance on Friday, with the abstinence from meat being the preferred means to do so, the question is really “How would you feel about abstaining meat INSTEAD of the other Friday penance you do?”

You do penance on Friday right? It is an obligation.
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OOPS! I totally forgot about doing penance on all Fridays-oh my gosh! Okay, I already ate meat today at my lunch hour at work but starting next Friday, I will again try to do away with meats as a form of penance-maybe tonight, I can say extra prayers with my 8-yr-old to get back on-track with Friday penance. I know this is no excuse yet I was raised catholic back when no meat Fridays was the norm-came back in 2005 after being with a baptist church for many years and also not much is mentioned about Friday penance, I’m afraid. I guess I may need to mention this in confession tomorrow? Really sometimes need a reminder on this matter. :signofcross::highprayer::ouch::takeoff:
 
we are oldtimers and never really stopped the habit of meatless Fridays, not religiously, if in a situation where meat is served we would eat it, and have no doubt simply forgotten at times, but in general we don’t eat meat on Friday, but sad to say it is more a habit than a penance.

I like the idea of bringing it back again for cultural reasons, because it would be one way to emphasize Catholic identity esp. in families, where these decisions are made, and because making it mandatory means you have to think about it.
 
It would not necessarily change anything for me over here. I would be in favor of it though, becuase it is getting back into the Traditions and would be most helpful in bringing to all our minds Good Friday and what it means. Sometimes we need reminders like this to remember what it is about, though I am sure there are those out there sadly who would not even care to even obeserve this if it would become the norm. [thinking that there are those who do not care to obey the Precepts of the Church]

Little One0307
 
It wouldn’t make any difference to me but it hopefully would prevent my Catholic boss (actually an ex-boss) from ordering all those meat sandwiches and fried chicken for the entire office on Fridays.
 
No problem. My customized Tuna Helper dishes are really good, and my curry mac’n’cheese’n’corn casserole is to die for.

DaveBj
 
I would definitely be in favor of it. I think that it’s a good witness.

I plan on doing it regardless or maybe even fasting as a penance. Since I’m having chicken and broccoli now, I guess I’m not starting today.

Question: How is saying prayers a penance?
 
redrosetea said:
WE went back to eating no meat on Fri, a few years ago…WE just talked it over after lent was finished and decided if we could manage to not eat meat for 6 weeks running, we didn’t really need to resume our sort of slothful ways…😃

We just stopped eating meat on all Fri’s and we really don’t miss it…It is a small act of penance that is easy to do…Has it benefited us spiritually? I think it has, but I am certainly not claiming sainthood…I think the old disciplines that got tossed into a corner did serve a purpose…It makes me mindful I need to be more thankful, and humbly accept my cross
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Abstaining is ok, I think it would be good if the Western Church returned to the Mon. and Wed. fast throughout the year as the Eastern Church still does.
 
It would not affect me in any particular way. It would just be another pointless obligation, unless I saw it as a sacrifice.

When a penance is imposed, then it literally has no meaning at all. It is just a ritual. It is not at all like Confession, where one voluntarily chooses to confess their sins and accept whatever penance may be imposed. Instead, this is something that is imposed by the “powers that be”, and it has no liturgical or personal meaning by itself.

I converted into the “Old Church” (pre Vatican II), and I rarely came across a Catholic that actually considered not eating meat on Fridays to be a sacrifice. They almost all (including Nuns and Priests) just looked at it as something that Catholics do.

To me, a sacrifice only has meaning when it has a purpose, and when it is willingly accepted or imposed upon one self.

Not being allowed to eat meat on Fridays met neither of those conditions.

I was almost always exempted from that obligation (except when I was in Catholic Boarding School and when I was in the Seminary). I was the only Catholic in my family, and I spent 10 years in the Army. I was given a dispensation while living at home, and ALL members of the Armed Forces are automatically given a dispensation.

But, I usually CHOSE not to eat meat, and that was a valid sacrifice (especially when I lived at home, and if I didn’t eat meat, I was not allowed to eat anything at all).

I could not possibly care less if the powers that be want to impose another meaningless ritual.

I would care however if they asked people to CHOOSE not to eat meat on Fridays as a personal sacrifice. That, to me, would have real meaning for those that chose to do this.
 
Yes, I’d like to see the old law re-established. We abstain and fast on Friday anyway and have for the last 30 years.
 
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