Oh dear! Oh bother. I'm silly but a little help

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mom2em

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Long story short: my four year old is sick, miserable and I was trying whatever I could to get her to eat. I offered her chicken noodle soup, but she only had to eat the soup and noodles, I would eat the chicken. She does not like the chicken. So that worked. She ate the noodles and soup.

… And I ate the chicken.

Now I know today is Friday, and in fact I had tuna set aside for myself for supper. But my having ate those small bits of chicken to get her to eat her supper, does this require me to go to confession? A mortal/grave matter?

It was entirely accidental. I wasn’t thinking, just trying to do something that I knew would get her to eat. But I’m me, I worry and my scruples get the better of me some times.

So if this were you, what would you do? It’s not like I sat down and had a big feed of meat. Just a few small pieces of chicken and nor was it intentional, just spur of the moment, not thinking longer than a blink.

I had been doing SO good with the no meat on Fridays too. Awful!

😊
 
mom2em said:
Long story short: my four year old is sick, miserable and I was trying whatever I could to get her to eat. I offered her chicken noodle soup, but she only had to eat the soup and noodles, I would eat the chicken. She does not like the chicken. So that worked. She ate the noodles and soup.

… And I ate the chicken.

Now I know today is Friday, and in fact I had tuna set aside for myself for supper. But my having ate those small bits of chicken to get her to eat her supper, does this require me to go to confession? A mortal/grave matter?

It was entirely accidental. I wasn’t thinking, just trying to do something that I knew would get her to eat. But I’m me, I worry and my scruples get the better of me some times.

So if this were you, what would you do? It’s not like I sat down and had a big feed of meat. Just a few small pieces of chicken and nor was it intentional, just spur of the moment, not thinking longer than a blink.

I had been doing SO good with the no meat on Fridays too. Awful!

😊
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Why didn’t you just take the chicken out? Did you forget about it being Friday at the time? If you forgot and it was entirely accidental then it wouldn’t be a mortal sin. From your description it seems that it was accidental and unintentional. I would move on.
 
Well, its too bad that you messed up a little and ate the chicken, but the newest church regulations offer you the opportunity to do another bit of penence to make up for it. Give it a little thought and I think you can possibly come up with an alternative. Perhaps a neighbor needs some help, say an extra Rosary for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, If your child is feeling a little better maybe the two of you could offer prayers for all the insults and disrespect given to Jesus and Mary.

Have a Blessed Lent
 
As far as I can see, you’ve done nothing wrong.

If memory serves, there is a story about St Francis of Assisi and one of his brothers. Their rule was to eat no meat, but this particular brother was ordered to eat meat on account of ill health. He was embarrassed to do so because he was the only one in his community.

St Francis not only ordered him to eat, but ordered the other brothers of his community to eat with him so that he wouldn’t feel singled out.

In this case you were eating the meat to get your daughter to eat the rest, but the principle is the same.
 
mom2em said:
I worry and my scruples get the better of me some times.
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Breaking your abstinence to get your daughter to eat is an act of charity towards your daughter. Be at peace, sister. You did the right thing. 👍
 
Seatuck said:
Why didn’t you just take the chicken out? Did you forget about it being Friday at the time? If you forgot and it was entirely accidental then it wouldn’t be a mortal sin. From your description it seems that it was accidental and unintentional. I would move on.
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I’ve never taken the chicken out. And being that my daughter is four and under the age of reason, I was rather confident that she was outside the rules of abstinence and fasting. I did know today was Friday. I am not entirely sure where it was that I forgot. But it wasn’t until after the chicken was gone and she was eating that I remembered.

I intended to have tuna. This was a moment of not thinking beyond that moment, beyond getting her to eat.

I, personally thought “Okay well, I didn’t intentionally set out to eat meat and break the abstinence rule.” So I wasn’t thinking there was a whole lot to it, but just to be sure, I thought I might ask someone who might be more versed than I since it is long after hours for our church now. I have a feeling that if I were to mention it to Father in confession, he might smile and tell me “don’t be so foolish.” :o I must make him batty at times.

Thank you so much for the help on the matter all you have replied. I appreciate your answers. Justed wanted a little confirmation. I will though happily say an extra rosary this evening for sure. That never hurts.

I also thank you for no “belittling” answers. Means the world to me when I can be just as good as anyone else to kick myself when I might be down. Thank you SO much!
 
corsair said:
Well, its too bad that you messed up a little and ate the chicken, but the newest church regulations offer you the opportunity to do another bit of penence to make up for it. Give it a little thought and I think you can possibly come up with an alternative. Perhaps a neighbor needs some help, say an extra Rosary for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, If your child is feeling a little better maybe the two of you could offer prayers for all the insults and disrespect given to Jesus and Mary.

Have a Blessed Lent
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What regulations are those? Please cite a Church document. It is a Canon Law requirement to abstain from meat during all Fridays. Americans still must abstain during Lent, even though their requirement outside Lent has been relaxed by the USCCB. During Lent, it is not permissible to substitute another penance.

However, since the OP forgot, there is no sin, and no requirement to substitute another penance, although it is laudable if she chooses to do so.
 
Elizium23 said:
What regulations are those? Please cite a Church document. It is a Canon Law requirement to abstain from meat during all Fridays. Americans still must abstain during Lent, even though their requirement outside Lent has been relaxed by the USCCB. During Lent, it is not permissible to substitute another penance.

However, since the OP forgot, there is no sin, and no requirement to substitute another penance, although it is laudable if she chooses to do so.
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I’ve only just found this, but it seems since I am Canadian, our rules are slightly different and
“We may also substitute other good actions for abstinence from meat. These could include special acts of charity (visiting the sick or aged, helping those in any need, contributing time or money to a work of charity) or other acts of piety (taking part in a service of worship with others, praying with our family, spending some extra time in personal prayer, especially with God’s holy word in the scriptures).” (from the CCCB website)

That being said, there’s been some posts already about meat on Lenten Fridays. Here is another reply from another CAF user that says it much better than I can since hehe I didn’t know it in the first place :o

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=4872213&postcount=102

Thanks for all the replies. I do appreciate them very much. Thanks for allowing my silliness for another post.
 
Please don’t feel bad about forgetting. Today I made myself a salad from the salad bar at work and unthinkingly threw some bacon bits on it. After a few bites I realized what I had done, then spent about 5 min. taking OUT the bacon bits:D We all forget things and it’s not a mortal sin.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Please don’t feel bad about forgetting. Today I made myself a salad from the salad bar at work and unthinkingly threw some bacon bits on it. After a few bites I realized what I had done, then spent about 5 min. taking OUT the bacon bits:D We all forget things and it’s not a mortal sin.
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Were they even real bacon bits, or were they imitation soy? Usually they’re fake.
 
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