Sounds great to me! I hope we do indeed re-institute meatless Fridays year-round.
The Latin Church (in the U.S.) needs something like this desperately. Too many Latin Catholics here don’t practice any regular abstinence or fasting; so much for, “When I am gone, then they will fast.”
I would have no issue with the return of the meatless Fridays all year round with the exception of the day after Thanksgiving and if Xmas Eve or Day falls on a Friday as those days are traditionally meat filled meal days for many. Also, there should be more emphasis on penitence on Fridays of the year, perhaps with chances for people to do things like Adoration, Confession, or Stations of the Cross.
Quick note: we wouldn’t need a dispensation to eat meat on a Friday Christmas; universal canon law for the Latin Church already says across the board that abstinence doesn’t apply on solemnities.
I would agree. Several generations of American Catholics have only abstained from meat on Friday’s during Lent. As I said earlier in this thread, as a revert, this past Lent was hard enough for me. I cann’t imagine how hard it will be for cradle Cathoics to all of a sudden give up their 4th of July BBQ’s or having a cheeseburger during their local HS football game.
This is why we need to be challenged more by our bishops. We’re so accustomed to basically no abstinence or fasting, and that’s not a good thing spiritually.
Trust me, garn, we can handle it. You know what the practice is in the Eastern Orthodox churches? Well, it varies by individual in consultation with his or her priest, but the standard for which they strive if they can includes abstaining every Wednesday
and Friday from meat, dairy, eggs, fish, alcohol, and olive oil. And during special fasting seasons, they abstain at least from meat, eggs,
and dairy (and often more) for days in a row at a time. During Lent, they abstain from all of the above all the week long, and even on Lenten weekends animal products are still not allowed (just alcohol and olive oil). The only thing a devout Orthodox Christian who is striving to follow the full challenge would eat at a typical Catholic fish fry would be the baked potato - plain.
Given the inspiring example of our eastern brethren, would it really be so much to ask that Latin Catholics as a group abstain from meat on Fridays?
Yep, that’s it. If it will be difficult to give up meat on Friday’s then those people just don’t value their faith. Shame on them.
Maybe it could be that they are already on a restricted diet. Maybe they work at a place that provides their meal, but doesn’t offer a meatless option. Maybe they travel every Friday and finding something meatless, that they can eat is hard to find.
There can be so many reasons. But somehow you jump on their perceived lack of faith.
Mary, of course there can be many valid reasons. But charity trumps law every time; that is a basic Catholic principle, so such an individual could and should always be able to get a dispensation in a way conducive to his or her spiritual growth. You have indicated that you have Celiac’s and Lupus, and no one should judge you; judging others would obliterate any spiritual benefit from one’s own fasting, anyway.
It is for such difficult situations that dispensations exist, and no one should ever judge anyone else’s fasting.
But for most Latin Catholics, who don’t suffer from such conditions, the inconvenience is part of what makes regular Friday abstinence spiritually beneficial, part of what makes it a sacrifice.
Why?
There’s nothing stopping anyone from abstaining from meat on Fridays now. Why do you see a benefit in imposing it on others?
Two reasons, at least.
(a) Making it a requirement makes it a public matter rather than an individual private devotion, and throughout Christian history, fasting and/or abstinence has often been considered essential. I feel that the Church has a duty to ensure that we have a special sense of our sacred obligation to do penance, especially on Fridays. Do you honestly think that the current policy fosters a sense of public, regular penance for most Latin Catholics in the U.S.? Of course not. That could change; there is great value in the Church making it public, official, communal - all of us united in the penance to which we are required.
(b) Many Latin Catholics, as things now stand in the U.S., don’t do any kind of fasting or abstinence outside Lent. But fasting and penance are
crucial parts of the Christian spiritual life. Instituting it as a weekly requirement would help motivate us to make such things a part of our life regularly, which can only be good. Sometimes people need a little extra push/motivation; that’s not bad, it’s just human nature. And, as I mentioned above, for most people meatless Fridays is hardly too much to ask.
I would feel much better about the penitential atmosphere of the Latin Church if we reinstituted Ember Days as well.
Would eating meat on Friday be an occasion of sin for people who choose to do so? What is the benefit of giving them another opportunity to sin? Is it worth it?
Well, yes, I think it is worth it. As I said, penance and fasting/abstinence are crucial in the Christian spiritual life. I know that it should be an individual’s responsibility, but our bishops have a responsibility in encouraging it, too. The current rules do not encourage it at all.
Having smaller finger foods to snack on every 2-3 hours helps, but sometimes I don’t have time for that…though that is a bit easier than sitting down for a half hour.