Lenten abstinece and holy week

[Katholikos77]

Hello everyone. I have several questions and concerns regarding The Lenten Season and the requirement that we must abstain from meat on certain days and I was looking to find some advice.

Here they are:

We are to abstain from meat on all the friday’s of lent and other days(such as ash wednesday). This I know. But my family won’t listen to me when I tell them that the only “meat” we can eat on the fridays of lent is fish. They keep telling me " you can eat any white meat, like chicken and turkey too" they wont listen to me and violate the lenten abstinence from meat. Then My mother says to me today:, "This holy week, I plan on making nothing but soup(vegetables only), and I tell her, "Mom, it’s ok to eat meat on Holy week, except for fridays of course(because she believes we are required to abstain from meat for all of holy week).To that she only became angry and said something Along the lines of “Well, I’VE always believed that we shouldn’t eat meat during all of holy week.” I’ve got no problem with not eating meat for all of Holy week, but my problem lies in that they won’t listen to what I have to say; In that they would rather do as they please, excusing everything I tell them the Church says away. This bothers me much.

So what should I do. Is everything that I’ve told them true. Or I’m I the one that’s wrong in all this? Sorry If I posted this in the wrong place, but I didn’t know where else to put it.

I really hope my family changes their ways. Please Pray for them, and for me as well. God knows I have my own struggles as well.

God Bless you all.

 

[Trishie]

Canon 1250 All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the entire Church.

Canon 1251 Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Canon 1252 All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

Canon 1253 It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.
The Church, therefore, has two forms of official penitential practices - three if the Eucharistic fast of one hour before Communion is included.

**Abstinence **The law of abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. Meat is considered to be the flesh and organs of mammals and fowl. Also forbidden are soups or gravies made from them. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are permitted, as are animal derived products such as margarine and gelatin which do not have any meat taste.

catholic.org/clife/abfast.php

 

[Katholikos77]

Well,l thank you for such a thorough answer. God Bless.