That’s between you and your confessor. But I will share my Lenten “game plan” (as my pastor calls it) of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Prayer is to participate more in the LOTH; I have been listening to the Podcast and I want to pray actively instead of passively while I fiddle on the computer.
Now for fasting and almsgiving, that is going hand-in-hand. I began a portion-control diet on Pentecost last year, and I lost over 30 pounds by simply cutting in half what I ate at each meal. For Lent I resolved to cut that in half again. So now I am eating 1/4th of what I originally was. I hope to lose another 30.
My almsgiving is simple, and it goes hand-in-hand with the fasting. I pledged to feed the hungry whenever I can. Especially from the half of the food I am not eating. I eat out at restaurants and order delivery for most of my meals. So it is very hard to eat small portions. I have to cut stuff in half, save it in the fridge, make several meals out of it. Now if I am walking away from a restaurant with a to-go container, and I see someone begging, I simply offer the food to them. So far people have been incredibly nice and appreciative. I don’t believe in giving money to beggars.
So what I would have done with that chicken soup is heat it up and immediately go out and find someone who wants to eat it. A neighbor, a beggar, a stranger. If it’s a sin to waste food and a sin to eat meat knowingly, why do you choose the sin of disobedience, when there is a third choice?
At the very least, if you can’t find someone hungry to eat your soup, then Ziploc it, throw it in the refrigerator, and eat it in 24 hours. I mean, you were at home, weren’t you? That’s a fourth option.
year14:
It may be permissible if you have bad health or are past the age of required fasting.
There is no provision in the law itself for exemption from the rule of abstinence for those who are infirm or elderly. Those exemptions are for fasting. Therefore, you would have to approach your pastor for a dispensation from the law of abstinence if you wish to plead poor health or old age. If you don’t, then it must be confessed.
