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

  • Thread starter Thread starter redrosetea
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
puzzleannie said:
what it has always been, they and those who voluntarily don’t eat meat find their own penance, just as they do now on Fridays of Lent.
Click to expand...
I am not aware of Church teaching that anyone, including vegetarians, must go beyond abstention from eating meat on Fridays?

Can anyone elaborate on this teaching? Does the Church also teach that those who habitually attend Mass each day are required to attend twice on holy days?? :confused:

tee
 
TrueLight said:
Last week the parish had a special ordination anniversary mass, so before the mass one of the servers/deacon(?), explained the rules of the 1962 mass as there would be people there who wasn’t used to it.

So he spoke of the one hour fast and he said that included candy. My friend and I happened to be enjoying some cough drops. We said “oops” and laughed. Although of course I wasn’t taking communion anyway.
Click to expand...
Cough drops fall under the heading of medicine if you NEED them. Sometimes I have, for fear of choking when I’ve got that end-of-flu dry hacking cough that won’t stop.
 
ProVobis said:
How about restoring the three-hour fast before communion to make it more meaningful perhaps?
Click to expand...
I am totally there with you on that one. How about going way old school and fasting from Midnight, though I suppose that would not be pratical if someone went to an Evening Mass on Sunday. It can be done, but it sure is hard.
 
I fast before going to Mass and receiving Holy Communion. I get up around 8:30am, get ready, and then leave my house to walk to Church between 8:45 - 9am. After that, I then go and do my weekly food shop and then I’m back in my house just in time for lunch!

It doesn’t bother me as most days I only have 2 meals anyway. 🙂
 
I never even realised that we could replace meatless fridays with another act of pennance and always abstained. I’m glad that this is being reinforced again in some places because it is an old tradition of the church that helps us think about Christ’s sacrifice a bit more.
 
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
Click to expand...
I think one of the things that the Church needs are “tangible” (wrong word, I know) practices that tie us together as a community and as a faith, outside the parish… Meatless Fridays is a step forward in that respect.

I don’t think the old disciplines were “tossed” so much as the responsibility was lightened, with the expectation that parishoners don’t need to stress about not meeting the standard precisely, but with the freedom to and the hope that they will do more than the new standard.

Personally, I’m not so sure about perpetual meatless Fridays. For me Lent is all the more important because I cannot do X,Y,Z/must do X,Y,Z at this time, whereas in the other parts of the year, I can do what I like. I wouldn’t do it during the Christmas or Easter season, and maybe larger chunks of the year as well.
 
ProVobis said:
How about restoring the three-hour fast before communion to make it more meaningful perhaps?
Click to expand...
Yes, I’d go more for the 8 hour fast or if the mass occurs in the morning, nothing can be eaten or drunk after the previous midnight (except medecine/water).

This is the common practice of all Eastern Catholic Churches today and was for all Western Catholic Churches until 100 years ago.
 
Chris_McAvoy said:
Yes, I’d go more for the 8 hour fast or if the mass occurs in the morning, nothing can be eaten or drunk after the previous midnight (except medecine/water).

This is the common practice of all Eastern Catholic Churches today and was for all Western Catholic Churches until 100 years ago.
Click to expand...
Yes, but remember why it was changed. Many people could not fast that long, so they just didn’t go to communion.
 
TrueLight said:
So he spoke of the one hour fast and he said that included candy. My friend and I happened to be enjoying some cough drops. We said “oops” and laughed. Although of course I wasn’t taking communion anyway.
Click to expand...
Funny 🙂
 
thistle said:
I realise that anyone anytime can voluntarily do a penance.
However, if the Friday penance mandated there is now no meat on Fridays what is the Church’s mandated instructions for the vegetarians?
Click to expand...
To make clear my position above:

To my understanding, the Church mandates no special instructions to vegetarians in this regard. As you note, one may voluntarily take on to do some penance in his own way, and the Divine law does bind the faithful to do so in general. But the Church does not bind habitual vegetarians to go abstinence from meat on the appointed days.

As always: If my understanding is mistaken, I welcome correction.

tee
 
RSD said:
Yes, but remember why it was changed. Many people could not fast that long, so they just didn’t go to communion.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t put it THAT way.

I would say if you REALLY wanted to receive, you would follow the prescribed formula. Most didn’t go unless they went to confession first. For some the confession was tougher than the 3-hr fast, which incidentally was up till the START of Mass. A one-hour fast before communion is essentially no fast at all.
 
RSD said:
Yes, but remember why it was changed. Many people could not fast that long, so they just didn’t go to communion.
Click to expand...
I am just wondering what makes us different from the people who could do this 100 years ago. [Now I understand being sick, being pregnant, and other conditions that excuse one from the fast.]
 
Chris_McAvoy said:
Yes, I’d go more for the 8 hour fast or if the mass occurs in the morning, nothing can be eaten or drunk after the previous midnight (except medecine/water).

This is the common practice of all Eastern Catholic Churches today and was for all Western Catholic Churches until 100 years ago.
Click to expand...
Nothing is stopping you. As for me, I’ll do what the Church says and not what anyone else ‘thinks’ the Church should prescribe.
 
Little_One0307 said:
I am just wondering what makes us different from the people who could do this 100 years ago. [Now I understand being sick, being pregnant, and other conditions that excuse one from the fast.]
Click to expand...
We’ve become comfortable and lazy and it seems like every generation is the “me” generation.

We need everything right now and we don’t understand delayed gratification.
 
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
Click to expand...
I think meat less Fridays would help discipline us and if anybody asks why your not eating any meat just say “Because I’m Catholic” or maybe just tell them that Christ died on Friday and the Church wants us to show our respect to our God.
 
ajpirc said:
I think meat less Fridays would help discipline us and if anybody asks why your not eating any meat just say “Because I’m Catholic” or maybe just tell them that Christ died on Friday and the Church wants us to show our respect to our God.
Click to expand...
Good reasons. One can also remind them of God’s command to Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. That certainly wasn’t pointless.
 
So based on these responses, it is clear that the Church should go back to the practice of meatless Fridays (which many people will characterize as the Church requiring us to eat fish).
 
RSD said:
So based on these responses, it is clear that the Church should go back to the practice of meatless Fridays (which many people will characterize as the Church requiring us to eat fish).
Click to expand...
The Church knows what she’s doing. God bless those who can offer up heroic sacrifices, but for weaklings such as myself, I’ll cling to what I’m told.

I wish I could attribute the quote, but Fr. Corapi would often use it. It went something like, “The people (of our time) will not be able to fast even a single day, but they will be great, for they will fight Satan unbound.”

Seems to me like he’s pretty unbound everywhere.
 
RSD said:
So based on these responses, it is clear that the Church should go back to the practice of meatless Fridays (which many people will characterize as the Church requiring us to eat fish).
Click to expand...
Honestly, I wish it were truly meatless Fridays. What is so hard about eating fish unless you absolutely hate fish?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top