Meat on friday?

[Evanescence]

Hey, didn’t Catholics use to teach that you shouldn’t eat meat on friday?

what is the story of this and how come it changed?
was it ever a Catholic Doctrine?

Thanks

Evanescence

 

[SleepyGuy]

Its still an obligation, but you can do some other kind of penance in its place. A lot of people are lax about it though.

some of the things you can do that is suggested is going to penitential rite during mass on friday, alms giving, fasting, works of mercy, charity, sacrifices, mortification, ect

usccb.org/dpp/penitential.htm this link gives you some ideas.

 

[Mike_Dye]

My wife and I abstain from meat on friday almost all of the time. If we find at times another penance is better we will do that, ie…Aunt Jenny spent all day cooking our favorite pot roast for dinner on Friday I will do something else.
Mike

 

[Lorrie]

I don’t eat meat on Friday’s year round.

Here’s a link to a recent thread I did on the subject:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=67714

 

[Sanctus]

Fridays during lent still must be “meat-less” other Fridays are days of pennance…the pennance is left up to you but abstaining from meat is still a laudable pennance.

 

[Evanescence]

Yes but wasn’t the Catholic church once strict on this issue but now isn’t so strict about meat on friday anymore?

Our critics think this is one of our “changed doctrine”

Evanescence

 

[Lorrie]

Evanescence:

Yes but wasn’t the Catholic church once strict on this issue but now isn’t so strict about meat on friday anymore?

Our critics think this is one of our “changed doctrine”

Evanescence

Didn’t Vatican II change this?

 

[SleepyGuy]

Its not changed. Its still there. I think what happened, just personal opinion, is that interpretation on this may have changed. Maybe less emphasis on this pratice as well. But its still an obligation.

The US Bishops allowed for subsituting it with other forms of penance. I dont know what bishops do in other parts of the world though.

Edit: Abstaining from meat is still given 1st priority, but its not the only perscribed means. You should see what the bishops in Australia say about it.

 

[William_Bradley]

In our house, we prefer to abstain from meat on Fridays. We are cognizant that other forms of Penance are available and at times have utilized them. We understand that the emphasis on Friday is Penance and remembrance of our Lord’s crucifixion. In the changing of this discipline, the Church sought to educate us about the purpose of this discipline. When an abstinence from meat results in a dinner of swordfish, lobster and shr(name removed by moderator), can this meal be approached as penitential?

Our critics in speaking about changed doctrine have always confused doctrine with disciplines as some would confuse salvation with redemption. In some cases, simple dialogue might resolve the issues and in other cases, one just has to realize that the confusion is nothing more than an unsubstantiated cheap shot.

 

[harinkj]

Abstaining from meat on Fridays is something I like. :bowdown:

• Katherine

 

[mosher]

Lorrie:

Didn’t Vatican II change this?

No

 

[MarkPerz]

Abstaining from meat on Fridays is not, nor has it ever been, “doctrine”. It is a discipline, or a custom, as a means of worship specific to honoring our Lord’s crucifixion.

 

[msproule]

The disciplinary “change” came with the 1983 revision to the Code of Canon Law. The individual Bishops’ conferences are given the authority to determine what form of Friday penance is best for their region. Typically this is abstinance, but some other act may replace it.

See Canons 1249-1253.

 

[Brendan]

Evanescence:

Yes but wasn’t the Catholic church once strict on this issue but now isn’t so strict about meat on friday anymore?

Our critics think this is one of our “changed doctrine”

Evanescence

It was never a Doctrine. The particulars of fasting practices are, and remain a discipline.

 

[Lorrie]

mosher:

No

OK.

 

[Chatter163]

The disciplinary “change” came with the 1983 revision to the Code of Canon Law. The individual Bishops’ conferences are given the authority to determine what form of Friday penance is best for their region. Typically this is abstinance, but some other act may replace it.

See Canons 1249-1253.

Actually, the change came in 1966, with the formation of bishops’ conferences. In that year the Holy See gave the newly formed conferences the authority to substitute what they considered appropriate options. Anyone old enough to recall the 1970’s probably remembers being told, “The Pope said it is OK to eat meat on Fridays now!”

 

[Dr.Bombay]

Jesus said in John 6:56 “For my flesh is meat indeed.”

So if you abstain from meat on Friday, but take Holy Communion, aren’t you, in reality, eating meat on Friday?

These are the questions that keep me awake at night. :yawn:

 

[Lalia_Mackay]

Moving this thread to Spirituality.

 

[PaulDupre]

The problem with objections like this one is that non-Catholics have lost the distinction between doctrines and disciplines.

Doctrines are teachings on faith and morals. Doctrines cannot be changed, though our understanding of them may develop and grow deeper over time as we live them.

Disciplines are customs or practices that help us live the gospel in a given time and place. Disciplines can be customized to be compatible with local cultures and laws, or changed to meet the current needs of the Catholic faithful.

Abstaining from meat on Fridays is a discipline, as is celibacy for priests and many other practices that non-Catholics often confuse with “doctrine”.

Regards,
Paul

 

[puzzleannie]

Evanescence:

Yes but wasn’t the Catholic church once strict on this issue but now isn’t so strict about meat on friday anymore?

Our critics think this is one of our “changed doctrine”

Evanescence

it was never a doctrine: truth revealed by God which can neither be changed nor denied
fast and abstinence (like clerical celibacy) are disciplines intended to help the faithful in growth in holiness and virtue and strength to meet the challenges of their state in life. Disciplines can be changed according to time and circumstance. The bishops have decided it is wise to encourage a full range of penitential practices and to give the individual Catholic responsibility for willingly choosing and carrying out such practices on Friday, the traditional day of penance as it is the day Christ died for us.