MERGED: Ate meat on a Lent Friday - Sin?

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The first Friday of Lent I was working. My department sent out for pizza, which was loaded with pepperoni. I don’t know why I didn’t remember it was Friday, but I ate one piece of pizza with pepperoni, then recalled it was Friday and I shouldn’t have eaten that, had a second slice and picked off the pepperoni off before eating it. It bothered me all weekend, I refrained from communion on Sunday, and went to confession on Monday. The priest said the first slice wasn’t a sin, the second slice wasn’t necessarily a sin since condiments (I suppose he was referring to the grease from the pepperoni that probably remained on the pizza slice) can be made from animal products without violating abstinence, but gave me absolution anyways (since I had a couple of other things to confess.) He also suggested I check my calendar in the morning and take a meatless lunch to work with me.

Reason I bugged Father with the whole story of the pizza was that it didn’t seem worth it to risk hell for a couple of cold slices of pizza.
 
puppypatrol said:
Code of Canon Law –

Days of Penance

Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are ***every Friday of the whole year ***and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.
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and this country has said to not eat meat on fridays during lent, and the faithful are not required to fast or abstain on non lenten fridays.
 
Yes, if you knowingly did so. If it was an honest mistake, then that is different. Also if the place you went to offered no meatless alternatives (or if it would be consider rude to not partake of the meat part of the meal) especially if it was a work related thing then you didn’t commit a sin.
 
triumphguy said:
Which country are you in? Your bishops may not even require abstinence from meat on Fridays in Lent. They don’t here in Canada. You may give up meat, or perform some other act of penance.
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That’s what I thought too. I was always taught you don’t eat meat on Fridays, but I didn’t know in Canada we could substitute another form of penance.
 
In our family we do the Friday Night stations of the cross at Church instead.
 
Within my practice of my Catholic faith, I take a bit less of a legalistic approach to abstinence.

An example would be that if your abstinence on Friday includes enjoying a sumptuous Lobster feast, which is your only meal of the day…well, have you really done penance or not?

I am comfortable accepting the instruction of the Church and trying to apply that to my particular situation. If I go to a restaurant for lunch on a Friday during Lent, and I order Mac & Cheese, and someone is passing a bite of chicken around with the “…oh…you gotta try this…”, I have to weigh fidelity to my faith against possibly offending my friend and neighbor passing a bite of chicken around the table. In my part of the country, Catholics are the minority, and a sliver Protestants seem to take great joy in rubbing my nose in their perception and opinions of my Lenten observances…i. e. forcing me to decline a taste of the chicken they are passing around the table, in front of others who are practicing no such disciplines.

To me, the point is to disrupt routine to try get more God in your thought processes, in preparation of Easter. It also to recognize our sinfulness and to acknowledge this with some discipline regarding a daily activity we all partake in…nourishing ourselves.

I’m okay with standing before God at judgment, having died with a contrite and penitent heart, and placing myself at His just judgments and tender mercies. I don’t think the issue is as entirely “black-and-white” as some might represent it.

Just an opinion.
 
GoodME said:
Within my practice of my Catholic faith, I take a bit less of a legalistic approach to abstinence.

An example would be that if your abstinence on Friday includes enjoying a sumptuous Lobster feast, which is your only meal of the day…well, have you really done penance or not?

I am comfortable accepting the instruction of the Church and trying to apply that to my particular situation. If I go to a restaurant for lunch on a Friday during Lent, and I order Mac & Cheese, and someone is passing a bite of chicken around with the “…oh…you gotta try this…”, I have to weigh fidelity to my faith against possibly offending my friend and neighbor passing a bite of chicken around the table. In my part of the country, Catholics are the minority, and a sliver Protestants seem to take great joy in rubbing my nose in their perception and opinions of my Lenten observances…i. e. forcing me to decline a taste of the chicken they are passing around the table, in front of others who are practicing no such disciplines.

To me, the point is to disrupt routine to try get more God in your thought processes, in preparation of Easter. It also to recognize our sinfulness and to acknowledge this with some discipline regarding a daily activity we all partake in…nourishing ourselves.

I’m okay with standing before God at judgment, having died with a contrite and penitent heart, and placing myself at His just judgments and tender mercies. I don’t think the issue is as entirely “black-and-white” as some might represent it.

Just an opinion.
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Well said!! 👍:clapping:
 
Hello. I was at a birthday party (today is Friday during Lent), and I had taken a piece of pizza which has bacon and ham in it. Because I had already touched it, I assumed that no one would want it, and thus I ate it so that people wouldn’t think that it was wasted. I didn’t mean to flout Church teaching, I really didn’t. Did I commit a mortal sin?
 
Cruxis117 said:
Hello. I was at a birthday party (today is Friday during Lent), and I had taken a piece of pizza which has bacon and ham in it. Because I had already touched it, I assumed that no one would want it, and thus I ate it so that people wouldn’t think that it was wasted. I didn’t mean to flout Church teaching, I really didn’t. Did I commit a mortal sin?
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I can’t say whether you committed a mortal sin or not. I can say that by “taking” the pizza (with meat on it) and then eating it, the action was disobedient to Church law. Disobedience to the Church is grave matter. However, because only you and God know what you knew, when you knew it and what was in your heart, no one here can say with certainly that you committed a mortal sin.
 
You could have picked off the meat and thus still observed the abstinence rule while not wasting (much) food.
 
You should have simply taken it off. I myself take off everything, cheese and all, even if it isn’t a Friday during lent. I don’t like cheese but love pizza, ergo I can literally order anything I want on my pizza on Fridays because it always gets taken off anyway. Whether it is a mortal sin or not I do not know. What I do know is that abstaining from meat on Fridays is something the Church takes very seriously, and expects the faithful to take very seriously as well. This is something you should take up with your confessor.
 
Hello,

Forgive me if I’m not understanding this correctly, but how is it a sin to not observe a penance? I thought the whole point of a penance was to show remorse for sin through some act. Some of you seem to be saying that failure to follow-through on a communal penance is a sin unto itself. That just doesn’t quite make sense to me. I could understand it being in poor spirit to forget to observe the Church’s guidelines on this, or possibly something to consult a priest on if you intend to openly flaunt the directed observances, but a grave matter/mortal sin? I’m not so sure about that.

This may be tangential, but I would be concerned about suggesting that failure to observe a Church tradition constitutes a mortal sin, even one as regular as fasting on Lenten Fridays. I believe strongly in following traditions, but that should come from a desire to grow closer to God, not out of a fear of sin. It smacks strongly of legalism. Certainly, not following such a strong tradition as fasting on Fridays during Lent would beg the question of “Why?”, but is it a grave matter? I think not. I am not a priest, but I think the CCC is pretty clear on this:

"1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent. "

Abstaining from meat on Fridays would seem to be the standard of the moral law. The CCC even calls it a law in the quote previously posted by another member. So, from what I can tell from reading the CCC, even if a person is openly defying the Church on this matter, it is at most a venial sin. That seems right by my logic, and according to the gravity of the matter.
 
fin said:
Last Friday I ate meat. I was on a short vacation. By the time I remembered the Friday abstinence, I was already eating. I didn’t receive Communion yesterday because I wasn’t sure.

Is it a mortal sin to eat meat on a Lent Friday? Thanks in advance.
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From why I’ve learned, it would only be a mortal sin if you thought “well, it’s Friday, and I’m not supposed to eat meat, but eh…what the heck.” You did it on accident, so it’s not.

This is my first lent and I have done this twice already. I’ll have a ham sandwhich or a piece of pizza and be half way through it and then remember. I just stop eating and grab an apple or something and say a quick ‘sorry, I forgot’ to God.
 
PazzoGrande said:
1251 is interesting; does any country still even require this?

Also interesting to note that when the 1983 Code was written, it envisioned abstinence for the whole of Lent.

One has to ask, are we getting a bit lax? Not only is the custom now a lot easier (i.e., only abstaining during Lent), but even that a lot of people ignore.
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You are conflating the canons.
  • The 1983 code envisions (and prescribes) *every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent *as penitential days.
  • The 1983 code envisions (and prescribes) abstinence from meat *on all Fridays *and on Ash Wednesday.
  • The 1983 code does not envision nor prescribe abstinence from meat as the only means of expressing penitence (cf. canon 1249), nor does any other teaching of the Church to my knowledge.
tee
As always: I Am Not A Canon Lawyer
 
Saw this thread and wanted to ask my own question:

A week ago, I had unforeseen circumstances come up and couldn’t make myself food at home like I normally do on Fridays. I was running late for an appointment and needed to eat lunch before I started feeling faint (I’m 8 months pregnant). I stopped by a local fast food place and ordered a couple of cheese enchiladas, and took off as soon as I got them with the intention of just eating them in the car on the way to my appointment. I opened the box and saw that they were covered in a meat sauce that had little chunks of hamburger all over in it.

Although I tried as hard as I could to scrape the sauce off, there were, of course, little bits of meat left on the enchiladas. I didn’t have time to stop anywhere else and I can’t skip a meal because of my pregnancy. I’ve felt horrible about it, but I can’t get to confession easily and I’m often told by my priest to “guard myself against being over-scrupulous”, so I’m not sure whether what I did really merits a confession or not.

I’m not trying to “get off” because of a technicality, but I feel as though I’ve either really mortally sinned or I’m feeling a lot of undue guilt, which makes me feel guilty in and of itself. The last 2 times I’ve tried to make it to confession there’s been a line so long that I haven’t gotten in.

I guess I’m looking for advice on whether or not my eating the bits of meat is really a grave matter or whether I need to lighten up and depend on the grace of God to forgive me for my Lenten foible. Please be generous, I’m still a fairly new member of the Catholic Church and really want to be as faithful as possible. 🙂
 
paperwight66 said:
You need to lighten up.
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Bingo. Friday was the birthday of one of my sons, he turned 20. He’s having a rough time in his life at the moment and we offered to take him out to dinner for his birthday. He chose a local renowned BBQ chicken chain. I ate chicken guilt-free. As we can lighten up Lenten observances on a feast day, I consider there were THREE feast days last week: solemnity of St. Joseph on Monday, feast of the passing of St. Benedict on Wednesday (on the Benedictine calendar only), and my son’s birthday on Friday 😉

Remember that the Pharisees took Jesus to task for not meeting the letter of the Law. Jesus instead chose to observe the spirit of the law, which in my mind means that sometimes charity dictates that we indeed, lighten up a bit.
 
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