meat on fridays

[spirocatania]

so is eating meat on fridays a grave mortal sin. i never really thought about it that much until now. my mum cooks and i eat what ever she cooks.

i am feeling stress because i went to confession on friday and went home and ate pizza with meat in it and went mass about 3 times during the weekend. i live in australia.

is it just during lent or is it every friday for the whole year.

 

[William1964]

so is eating meat on fridays a grave mortal sin. i never really thought about it that much until now. my mum cooks and i eat what ever she cooks.

i am feeling stress because i went to confession on friday and went home and ate pizza with meat in it and went mass about 3 times during the weekend. i live in australia.

is it just during lent or is it every friday for the whole year.

Just during Lent.

 

[Fox]

It used to be every Friday back in the day.

 

[FiberZilla]

It used to be every Friday back in the day.

Since it is no longer a grave sin, what happened to all of the people who went to Hell because they died with that one unconfessed mortal sin on their soul? Are they still in Hell even though the meat restriction was later relaxed?

 

[fermat]

Since it is no longer a grave sin, what happened to all of the people who went to Hell because they died with that one unconfessed mortal sin on their soul? Are they still in Hell even though the meat restriction was later relaxed?

Great question. A few things:

The rule that eating meat on any Friday was a discipline of the church. It was put into place as a tool to help the faithful in sacrificing something and hopefully offering that sacrifice to the Lord in personal atonement for sin. In Matthew 16:19, Christ gave Peter the power to bind a loose. This is a type of that Apostolic authority.

Let’s say your mother tells you, ‘FiberZilla, you are not allow to eat cookies on Sunday. It will help you learn temperance.’ As soon as mum isn’t looking, you hork down two or three cookies.

What was the real sin here? Eating cookies, or disobeying your mother?

A year later your mom says, ‘FiberZilla, you have done a great job with temperance. You are older now and I am concerned about sloth. To help teach you diligence, you are to mow Mrs. Johnson’s yard every Saturday.’

Is it ok for you to eat cookies on Sunday? Yes. Is it ok for you blow off Mrs. Johnson’s yard? No.

The next thing is that the absolute key to understanding Catholicism, is to know that it based on God’s love for us. We have hope that His mercy will look past our indiscretions and that He will forgive us and allow us to come home to Him. Everything that the Catholic church teaches is based on that idea. So if the church says that we are not to eat meat on Fridays, she does it because it is a tool to help us receive and rejoice in the love of God. It is to help us appreciate Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation. While there is absolutely nothing we can do on our own for our salvations, there is plenty we can do to open our hears to Christ. Sometimes denying yourself of something can do that. And since we are human, and we tend to be lazy, sometimes we need firmer direction to get us where we need to go.

Don’t think of it as, ‘If you eat meat on Friday, you go to hell.’ Instead, it is, ‘By not eating meat on Friday, you can, in some small way, participate with Christ’s suffering on the cross and bring yourself closer to Him.’

Finally, if you have died in a state of moral sin and are relegated to hell, there is no getting out again. We have hope that our Lord is merciful and will forgive us anyway and not send us there, even though that may be what we truly deserve.

Complex, complex question. I hope this has been helpful!

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Um, point of information here.

First, the US has an indult dating from the 1960s that permits the hopeful practice of a penance that is not necessarily eating meat on non-Lenten Fridays.

The NORM for the UNIVERSAL CHURCH is abstinence from meat on ALL Fridays.

However: For the OP, if you are at home and do not have control over what your mother serves, try as best you can to eat around the meat or else your mother tells you to do so, you obey your mother. God does not hold us to the impossible and when you are on your own you can be independent.

Second, it was never the ‘eating meat’ part that was sinful (otherwise, eating meat on any day would be wrong). What was wrong was those who knew that the Church had the authority to give us a practice (a practice rooted in self-denial and unification with Christ’s suffering, hardly a bad thing and something we need more of today IMHO), and deliberately disobeyed.

IOW, it is the disobedience, and UNREPENTED at that, which caused them (if unrepented at death just like ANY OTHER MORTAL SIN) to have chosen hell.

So please be sure you understand exactly what the Church teaches, Fiberzilla, otherwise you run the risk of looking foolish.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

so is eating meat on fridays a grave mortal sin. i never really thought about it that much until now. my mum cooks and i eat what ever she cooks.

i am feeling stress because i went to confession on friday and went home and ate pizza with meat in it and went mass about 3 times during the weekend. i live in australia.

is it just during lent or is it every friday for the whole year.

Hmm, I am not sure about Australia. Here in the USA it is just during Lent. Friday remains a day of penance, so I usually don’t eat meat as my penance during the year, but occasionally I do, then I perform a different penance.

 

[MatthewBerkeley]

To follow on from Tantum Ergo above, abstaining from meat on Fridays is the recommended form of sacrifice on Fridays, commemorating Jesus’ great sacrifice on Good Friday, but if that isn’t possible, there are alternatives such as an act of charity, visiting someone sick, or in prison. As far as I know there is a list of suggestions compiled by bishops. At the end of the day, the crux of the matter is self-sacrifice for the sake of Jesus, so there isn’t really a definitive list.

 

[Spencerian]

Um, point of information here.

First, the US has an indult dating from the 1960s that permits the hopeful practice of a penance that is not necessarily eating meat on non-Lenten Fridays.

The NORM for the UNIVERSAL CHURCH is abstinence from meat on ALL Fridays.

However: For the OP, if you are at home and do not have control over what your mother serves, try as best you can to eat around the meat or else your mother tells you to do so, you obey your mother. God does not hold us to the impossible and when you are on your own you can be independent.

Second, it was never the ‘eating meat’ part that was sinful (otherwise, eating meat on any day would be wrong). What was wrong was those who knew that the Church had the authority to give us a practice (a practice rooted in self-denial and unification with Christ’s suffering, hardly a bad thing and something we need more of today IMHO), and deliberately disobeyed.

IOW, it is the disobedience, and UNREPENTED at that, which caused them (if unrepented at death just like ANY OTHER MORTAL SIN) to have chosen hell.

So please be sure you understand exactly what the Church teaches, Fiberzilla, otherwise you run the risk of looking foolish.

I concur with Tantum ergo. You are asked to give a penance of some sort on all Fridays of the year. Abstaining from meat is a easy way to do so, which I did for my first years as a convert and will return to again. Abstaining from meat during the Fridays of Lent remains mandatory.

The United States has too many indults that lead to confusing some Church practices. While allowed by its indult, communion by the hand is also one of these (not to take this off-topic, please).

 

[prettylarge]

Is there any scripture that says anything about eating meat on Friday? Did Jesus ever say you shouldn’t do it? Do you guys know where the tradition came from? Because I don’t, but I am fairly certain it is not from the Bible.

 

[Spencerian]

Is there any scripture that says anything about eating meat on Friday? Did Jesus ever say you shouldn’t do it? Do you guys know where the tradition came from? Because I don’t, but I am fairly certain it is not from the Bible.

Hi, prettylarge.

The Jews have many practices in diet that are Biblically related. As Christians are not Jews, they have far fewer. But a custom from Sacred Tradition has been to abstain from meat on Fridays, made mandatory during Lent.

I presume you believe in the concept of sola scriptura, that the Bible alone is the only needed source and definitive resource for Christians. Yet I will challenge you to answer this: The word “Trinity” is nowhere in the Bible, yet if you are a Christian that believes in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, does the lack of specific word or established practice in the Bible make it invalid? It doesn’t, of course.

That is why Sacred Tradition as Catholics (much of it defined by the Bible, such as the practice of the Mass) is just as much a vital part of our Christian foundation as does Sacred Scripture.

 

[prettylarge]

Hi, prettylarge.

The Jews have many practices in diet that are Biblically related. As Christians are not Jews, they have far fewer. But a custom from Sacred Tradition has been to abstain from meat on Fridays, made mandatory during Lent.

I presume you believe in the concept of sola scriptura, that the Bible alone is the only needed source and definitive resource for Christians. Yet I will challenge you to answer this: The word “Trinity” is nowhere in the Bible, yet if you are a Christian that believes in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, does the lack of specific word or established practice in the Bible make it invalid? It doesn’t, of course.

That is why Sacred Tradition as Catholics (much of it defined by the Bible, such as the practice of the Mass) is just as much a vital part of our Christian foundation as does Sacred Scripture.

Paul said that only weak Christians follow dietary laws. This is in the later chapters of Romans (chapter 12 I believe, though I am not positive). Anyway, I don’t believe in sola scriptura.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40)

That sums up everything. That is what we need to focus on. If we do this, then we will be righteous in the eyes of the lord. And to be honest, loving God with all our heart is just a formality, because if you love your neighbor you are showing your love of God…even if you claim you do not believe in God.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Then if you love your neighbor, and your neighbor has a tradition of abstinence, wouldn’t it be a nice, loving thing to do not to cast aspersions on your neighbor, not to pick at his choice to follow the teachings of his church, and not to cast difficulties in the way? I believe St. Paul spoke about that too, you know, the part where he said that if a fellow Christian had a dietary scruple you weren’t supposed to push him out of it?

 

[Tantum_ergo]

IOW, if you don’t want to be a member of our Church, nobody is forcing you to join.

But if we have particular things that we do in our church, you don’t have the right to tell us that what we do is stupid, or wrong, simply because you (not even in any faith tradition of your own) think it is wrong. . .nor should you encourage people in a particular church just to disregard anything that is taught other than your own, fallible, personal interpretation that ‘all you need is love’–and that means you don’t have to pay attention to any rules.’

 

[prettylarge]

Then if you love your neighbor, and your neighbor has a tradition of abstinence, wouldn’t it be a nice, loving thing to do not to cast aspersions on your neighbor, not to pick at his choice to follow the teachings of his church, and not to cast difficulties in the way? I believe St. Paul spoke about that too, you know, the part where he said that if a fellow Christian had a dietary scruple you weren’t supposed to push him out of it?

Paul did say that if it offends people to eat meat or eat anything that they thought was “unclean” you should abstain from it. I agree with this. You shouldn’t offend your neighbor. I personally think it is wrong to try to convince someone to have sex with you that does not want it. But if both people are willing to do it and understand the emotions behind it (for both people) then there is nothing wrong with it according to the golden rule.

 

[prettylarge]

IOW, if you don’t want to be a member of our Church, nobody is forcing you to join.

But if we have particular things that we do in our church, you don’t have the right to tell us that what we do is stupid, or wrong, simply because you (not even in any faith tradition of your own) think it is wrong. . .nor should you encourage people in a particular church just to disregard anything that is taught other than your own, fallible, personal interpretation that ‘all you need is love’–and that means you don’t have to pay attention to any rules.’

I see what you mean. I agree. I apologize.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Apology accepted. I’ll disagree with you on the other part above (it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage whether or not the two people are mutually willing, because sex is something sacred. If you’re a younger person you’ll probably think that sounds Victorian but I’m 53, I lived through and was badly scarred by the ‘sexual revolution’. Like a lot of people I found out the hard way that what seemed to be a perfectly delightful philosophy of ‘do what you want so long as it’s mutually desired’ turned into a nightmare of being objectified (as a woman) and from what I can gather (not being a man) for men, being both demonized and marginalized. The legacy of sexual sin is far more than a temporarily ‘broken’ heart and well, there’ll be another ‘experience’ just around the corner. )

But I didn’t listen to my mother right away far less some anonymous person. I hope you’ll be smarter than I and listen though!

 

[Spencerian]

Paul said that only weak Christians follow dietary laws. This is in the later chapters of Romans (chapter 12 I believe, though I am not positive). Anyway, I don’t believe in sola scriptura.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40)

That sums up everything. That is what we need to focus on. If we do this, then we will be righteous in the eyes of the lord. And to be honest, loving God with all our heart is just a formality, because if you love your neighbor you are showing your love of God…even if you claim you do not believe in God.

You are recalling Romans 14, if I have researched properly. In there, Paul admonishes the Jewish Christians who, in their transition, were having a hard time dismissing the dietary requirements of the Mosaic law. Paul was not dismissing the few dietary customs of the New Covenant, and warned others not to get “all in the faces” of others who are new to the new practices or are having problems in Mosaic withdrawal.

(A side note: Nothing that Paul states here dismisses the importance of the Real Presence of the Eucharist, which is, as Christ said many times, spiritual food and drink. Paul’s letters make that clear in many other books.)

Nowhere in that verse from Christ implies or says that loving God is “merely a formality.” It sounds that you are trying to simplify God’s word to a definition that fits you. Religion is meant to define you, not for you to define it. Otherwise, it’s all just a story that has little power, except in your own mind.

God and your love for him, per the very verse you noted, must come before everything. After, love everyone else, for without a love of God, you cannot complete Christ’s first commandment.

 

[FiberZilla]

Great question. A few things:

The rule that eating meat on any Friday was a discipline of the church. It was put into place as a tool to help the faithful in sacrificing something and hopefully offering that sacrifice to the Lord in personal atonement for sin. In Matthew 16:19, Christ gave Peter the power to bind a loose. This is a type of that Apostolic authority.

Let’s say your mother tells you, ‘FiberZilla, you are not allow to eat cookies on Sunday. It will help you learn temperance.’ As soon as mum isn’t looking, you hork down two or three cookies.

What was the real sin here? Eating cookies, or disobeying your mother?

A year later your mom says, ‘FiberZilla, you have done a great job with temperance. You are older now and I am concerned about sloth. To help teach you diligence, you are to mow Mrs. Johnson’s yard every Saturday.’

Is it ok for you to eat cookies on Sunday? Yes. Is it ok for you blow off Mrs. Johnson’s yard? No.

The next thing is that the absolute key to understanding Catholicism, is to know that it based on God’s love for us. We have hope that His mercy will look past our indiscretions and that He will forgive us and allow us to come home to Him. Everything that the Catholic church teaches is based on that idea. So if the church says that we are not to eat meat on Fridays, she does it because it is a tool to help us receive and rejoice in the love of God. It is to help us appreciate Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation. While there is absolutely nothing we can do on our own for our salvations, there is plenty we can do to open our hears to Christ. Sometimes denying yourself of something can do that. And since we are human, and we tend to be lazy, sometimes we need firmer direction to get us where we need to go.

Don’t think of it as, ‘If you eat meat on Friday, you go to hell.’ Instead, it is, ‘By not eating meat on Friday, you can, in some small way, participate with Christ’s suffering on the cross and bring yourself closer to Him.’

Finally, if you have died in a state of moral sin and are relegated to hell, there is no getting out again. We have hope that our Lord is merciful and will forgive us anyway and not send us there, even though that may be what we truly deserve.

Complex, complex question. I hope this has been helpful!

I see that the meat thing is a discipline and sin offereing, however Hebrews 10 says that Christ is not only our atonement for sin, but there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Christ paid our fine on the cross.

 

[prettylarge]

Apology accepted. I’ll disagree with you on the other part above (it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage whether or not the two people are mutually willing, because sex is something sacred. If you’re a younger person you’ll probably think that sounds Victorian but I’m 53, I lived through and was badly scarred by the ‘sexual revolution’. Like a lot of people I found out the hard way that what seemed to be a perfectly delightful philosophy of ‘do what you want so long as it’s mutually desired’ turned into a nightmare of being objectified (as a woman) and from what I can gather (not being a man) for men, being both demonized and marginalized. The legacy of sexual sin is far more than a temporarily ‘broken’ heart and well, there’ll be another ‘experience’ just around the corner. )

But I didn’t listen to my mother right away far less some anonymous person. I hope you’ll be smarter than I and listen though!

Right now I am 23 and I have a 1 year old son. He was conceived out of wedlock but I am now happily married to his mother. If it wasn’t for pre marital sex he wouldn’t be playing right next to me right now, and that would sadden me. He is a great little guy and I am happy with the decisions I have made. If pre marital sex was such a bad thing, I don’t think God would reward me so generously for it.

EDIT: NOW happily married, not “not happily married”