Meat prohibited on Fridays?

[Victorious]

Abstaining from meat every Friday of the year is no longer required, but some penitential act is required every Friday, because Christ died on a Friday. Abstaining from meat on Fridays of Lent is required.

Since I joined the lay Dominicans, I gave up meat on all Fridays (except one Friday where the only thing I had available to eat all day was lunch meat). This discipline, however, is not binding on pain of sin (though I think the disciplines of some other orders do bind on pain of sin).

 

[Andruschak]

Couldn’t have said it better myself! Except, in my tradition, abstinence and fasting are two different things, yet your fasting is my abstinence. A “fast” in my tradition is not eating from sundown to sunrise. God Bless.

Ah, is that the Jewish tradition? I do know that the Islamic Ramadan fast is from sunrise to sunset, with no food, water, tobacco, or sex allowed.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Sir Knight;1615909:

Not eating meat on Fridays during Lent (and previously on all Fridays

) is NOT Church Doctrine or Church Dogma – which are considered to be infallible teachings of the Church and can NOT be changed.

Instead “Not eating meat on Fridays during Lent” is a Church PRACTICE. A “Practice” is a rule established by the Church to help the believer walk the straight and narrow path. It can be changed, evolved, or abandoned. So no sin attached if you choose NOT to abide by that practice?

Yes there is.

yeshua;1616008:

There is no sin associated with not practicing this tradition, it is introspective expression of spirituality.

Thanks for answering that for me. Why is it taught like we MUST obey it though?

There IS sin associted with not obeying this church practice. Perhaps the following example will help illustrate this concept …
In the 1960’s and part of the 1970’s, the speed limit on most US interstate highways was around 60-65mph. Then, some time in the 1970’s a national speed limit of 55MPH was imposed to save energy. Then, several years ago, that law was abandoned and the speed limit on most interstate highways is now 60, 65 or even 70MPH.

I can now drive along I-75 at 70MPH and not be in violation of and speeding law. If I did the EXACT SAME THING a dozen years earlier, I would have been guilty of a crime in breaking the speed limit law and if caught, I would have received a ticket and had to pay a fine.

The same thing applies to obeying Church Practices.

 

[yeshua]

Ah, is that the Jewish tradition? I do know that the Islamic Ramadan fast is from sunrise to sunset, with no food, water, tobacco, or sex allowed.

Syriac Christianity, that of which I am a part of, is the most Rabbinic of any other Christian group. The Syriac churches have traditions directly derived from Judaic practices at the time of Christ, with of course, a Christian medium.

 

[mrs_abbott]

I can now drive along I-75 at 70MPH and not be in violation of and speeding law. If I did the EXACT SAME THING a dozen years earlier, I would have been guilty of a crime in breaking the speed limit law and if caught, I would have received a ticket and had to pay a fine.

The same thing applies to obeying Church Practices.

How is that a sin though? You’re obeying the law now so what does it matter what happened a dozen years earlier?

 

[Sir_Knight]

That’s the entire point. There is nothing evil or wrong about driving over a certain set speed limit. Those laws are enacted for a particular purpose or purposes – to save on gasoline by driving at a reduced speed, to reduce the number of high speed accidents which almost always result in more serious injuries than those at lower speeds, etc.

However, if you violate that law and are caught, then you are still GUILTY because you broke the law.

The same applies to Church Practices. In and of ITSELF, there is nothing evil or wrong with eating meat on the Fridays of Lent. The Church, however, institutes this Practice to help the faithful walk the straight and narrow by doing penance by giving something up.

Thus, just as with the speed limit example above, if you do not obey the Church Practice and eat meat on the Fridays of Lent, you have sinned.

 

[StMarkEofE]

Couldn’t have said it better myself! Except, in my tradition, abstinence and fasting are two different things, yet your fasting is my abstinence. A “fast” in my tradition is not eating from sundown to sunrise. God Bless.

We are not too far apart on this topic. Many Orthodox practice fasting from sunset to sunset. Its mostly in the west that we use the midnight point of reference as a starting point.

 

[lak611]

Abstaining from meat every Friday of the year is no longer required, but some penitential act is required every Friday, because Christ died on a Friday. Abstaining from meat on Fridays of Lent is required.

Personally, I always make sure that I do something else on Fridays, like go to Mass or do some extra Bible readings. My favourite foods are fish, tofu, and salad, so abstaining from meat is no sacrifice for me! I don’t eat pork, because I don’t like it. Eating pork or liver :bigyikes: would definitely be more of a sacrifice for me because I despise that food!