Rules about Eating Meat

[MockSock]

Abstinence, unlike fasting, doesn’t have an “age-out” factor. It is from 14 years old for the rest of one’s life.

Thank you for the clarification. So Friday abstinence is not a requirement of the Church?! Wow! Who would’ve thought?

If I could just offer my own opinion though, just because something is not a mortal sin it doesn’t mean we should do it.

Is it considered a venial sin?

 

[paperwight]

I don’t know, to be honest, as in our family we always have fish and chips on Fridays anyway. It wasn’t spelled out as a sin of any kind at the time, I do remember that, although it could be construed as disobedience I suppose, not to comply with a request by the Bishops.

At the time of the announcement, reasons given were to reinforce Catholic identity, and (more importantly, certainly in my opinion) as a sign of solidarity with the poor.

 

[paperwight]

paperwight:

Abstinence, unlike fasting, doesn’t have an “age-out” factor. It is from 14 years old for the rest of one’s life.

I am all for fundraising, but any Catholic events on Friday really need to be vegetarian or pescatarian. This could be a teachable moment — “yes, we still abstain from meat on Friday, either that or do something else”. Indians serve vegetarian food for Diwali and the Sikh langar (community meals). Why can’t we follow suit and use this as a way to teach our faith?

‘Abstain from meat or do something else’ Well, quite. Those attending can very easily and without fanfare substitute another penance.

Having meat at an event is a matter of prudence, in that without selling enough tickets, the charity will not get a decent return.

Actually, I don’t see not eating meat on Friday as such an important aspect of our faith anyway. It is only a discipline, not a doctrine.

 

[Vico]

…

We (Byzantine - Ruthenian) also have the tradition of strict abstinence on the Exaltation of the Cross, Beheading of St. John the Baptist, and on any day with Royal Hours ( Eve of the Nativity, the Eve of Theophany, and Great Friday).

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I am all for fundraising, but any Catholic events on Friday really need to be vegetarian or pescatarian. This could be a teachable moment — “yes, we still abstain from meat on Friday, either that or do something else”. Indians serve vegetarian food for Diwali and the Sikh langar (community meals). Why can’t we follow suit and use this as a way to teach our faith?

True, they can do something else, but many Catholics in the US do not comprehend that the Church requires some sort of penance, and offers Friday abstinence as the best and the preferred discipline. All that people heard was “you can eat meat on Friday” and perceived this as part of “the Church finally catching up with the times”. Having a “Friday-compliant” food fundraiser could be a good way to set people right — “I thought the Church did away with that”, “no, the Church didn’t do that, and here’s why”. Many people love vegetarian food or a good fish fry. And non-Catholics could be reminded both of their obligation to do penance too (see below) and could hold their Catholic neighbors to the Church’s discipline — “Susan from the Parish Council told me that Catholics still have to do penance on Fridays when we went out to that awesome fish fry at St Expedite’s last week, so why are you eating that hamburger?”.

It is true that Friday abstinence is only a discipline. However, the divine command to do penance is not optional. Scripture tells us that we will perish if we fail to do penance. We all have to do some kind of penance, and it should be done fairly frequently. Friday abstinence is just significant enough, just inconvenient enough, to fulfill the minimal requirements of penance, and I would add, serves to remind us once a week that we are Catholic, and that we need to make self-discipline and self-denial a part of our lives.

In a “parallel spiritual universe”, it could just as easily be giving up smoking/vaping, giving up alcohol, or not going online unnecessarily on Fridays. But not everyone smokes, not everyone drinks, not everyone goes online. Everyone does eat. And it’s worth noting that two of the first things Our Lord commands in Scripture is how to use our God-given sexuality — “be fruitful and multiply” — and what we may and may not eat (the fruit of the tree of knowledge that is commonly depicted as an apple, though Scripture does not specify what it was).

 

[Margaret_Ann]

We have the same strict fast days as well. I didn’t put them in because the link to Royal Doors tells everything in detail. (Plus, it was after midnight and I generally don’t do my best posting then. )

 

[Penitent60]

The joy of being RCC. Traditionally, in my house…it meant mum had the night off and we had fish and chips from Nick the Greek back in the day when it was wrapped in newspaper, the oil was rarely changed and Nick always fried with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth with a truely awesome length of ash suspended quivering from the butt. No-one died, at least not in our home. Still love fush an" chups but it is so sanitised …still yummy but!!

 

[Penitent60]

I thought …great once I am 60 it doesn’t apply to me. Funny…now I am 60 I am far more rigorous, I guess the realisation of my unworthiness has become me apparent as I age

 

[Elias]

In Latin the prohibition is against carnis on fridays. Carnis translates to flesh of a warm-blooded animal ( fish, reptiles, and all that have their own word in Latin). The Friday carnis prohibition is a Catholic tradition is where we abstain from eating carnis as an act of penance. One can choose to give up all meats that day if you want to, but that’s not necessary.

Yes times have changed where you can do different acts of penance, but you’re supposed to get permission first. Besides not eating a cheeseburger or chicken for a day is pretty easy compared to a lot of the other penances. Abstaining from certain foods also helps build a virtue of temperance which will help fight off against the vice of gluttony. Many Catholics also see the prohibition of carnis as a badge of honor. It’s a tradition that I personally wish wasn’t made optional.