Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I live in the UK and every Friday of the year we’re not allowed to eat meat unless it’s a solemnity (sad I know but who likes penance eh?) Now I’m wondering about something is it from midnight to midnight?
I work overnight shifts and start tonight (Thursday) and finish on Friday morning and I don’t know when I’ll get my break probably just after midnight, would it then be a sin to eat meat because it’s gone passed midnight?
Concur, with the previous two posters. I absolutely cannot (and do not) say anyone is wrong if they count their abstinence from midnight to midnight.
However, having known many clock-watchers in my time, it never seemed in the spirit to me to order that pepperoni pizza for 0001 Saturday morning delivery, or to “fortify” oneself up until 2359 on Maundy Thursday, or similar. It just never sat right with me, so my usual practice (for which I shall have to answer before God, in whose Mercy I trust) is to go by what day it “feels like” to me. If I am awake beyond midnight tonight, I would not deny myself a carnivorous snack if I craved one. By the same token, should I burn the midnight oil tomorrow, into the wee hours of Saturday, I will maintain my abstinence just as if it would still have been Friday, But I cannot encourage anyone else to follow my lead, nor can I say those who do otherwise are wrong – It just feels wrong to me.
All *
that *being said, the one time in my life when it did feel right to follow the clock from midnight to midnight was a few years ago when, like you, I was working a night shift. There was just no other sensible way to maintain fast.and abstinence without causing scandal. (Also, when I was on a night shift, the day never “felt right” anyway. I used to say that many people describe their jobs as “same stuff, different day” but when I worked nights it always felt like “same day, different stuff”)
whew!
:twocents:
tee
