Stopping a scrafice offered up

[spirocatania]

on Fridays i usual dont eat meat and only drink water and offer it up as a scrafice until the day is over to help and release the poor souls in purgatory. this is what i did this Friday however the family and I all went up to our holiday house and my mum said to me that I dont have much food to choose from. she had pizza with meat and calamari and also fish sticks. I said to her i will eat what she had and have made.

before dinner i went into a room and said to God that i had to stop the scrafice i offered early in the day because of this problem.

I didn’t know she was going to cook the calamari and fish sticks. she had asked me about the fish sticks but i didn’t want her to go to the trouble but she still did them. i later thought about it and i could of just ate the fish stick and calamari.
Have i commited a grave sin here. offering up something and then have to stop it.

 

[po18guy]

Such a non-Lenten sacrifice is a personal devotion and may be stopped at any time. The Church neither requires that you begin such a sacrifice, or once having begun it, that you may not stop it. God knows that you are human and that you need nutrition. In such cases, simply offer prayer or some other mortification to our lord.

 

[ohioszo]

When fudging on a fast, overeating for instance, be aware of Jesus on the cross. We have a crucifix over our table, on the wall, of course. He wants to keep us true to our fasts, our small sacrifices, and he wants us to remember Him who is the reason. Very hard to ignore him, and say that we love Him. I would now say that it was a major affront. One time, you might slip, but, to deliberately ignore your promise. Always pray before a meal, too!

There was fish for you. Perhaps you went overboard in your fast! Families do not always approve of non meat eating, but, your mother had two options for that. Excusing yourself from all but what you had promised … Which I am not sure if, but, I think was bread and water, was what was called for here. But, eating no meat would have been a compromise. God knew, and perhaps you knew, since the dinner was on your schedule, what that promise wold entail.

 

[RSD]

One element here is that eating is also a social event. If I understood you correctly, your personal sacrifice was meant to apply to your personal eating. When a personal intention of giving up certain foods conflicts with the social aspects of dining with loved ones, you have to realize that this is a different circumstance, and might require, in ordinary charity, to be a separate event from your own private sacrifices.

G.K. Chesterton wrote a story about a man who was known to be a “man about town” always eating and drinking and going to parties. Only those closest to him knew that he chose from a rich menu only the foods that he did not like, from an extensive wine list only those wines which he knew were not good wines, he went to parties with people who bored him, and exercised charity with great personal humility. It is possible to fast in some way, while enjoying the hospitality of others, but it is WAY harder than just not eating. Ask me how I know. (No, I was not the subject of G.K. Chesterton’s story)

 

[JRKH]

on Fridays i usual dont eat meat and only drink water and offer it up as a scrafice until the day is over to help and release the poor souls in purgatory. this is what i did this Friday however the family and I all went up to our holiday house and my mum said to me that I dont have much food to choose from. she had pizza with meat and calamari and also fish sticks. I said to her i will eat what she had and have made.

before dinner i went into a room and said to God that i had to stop the scrafice i offered early in the day because of this problem.

I didn’t know she was going to cook the calamari and fish sticks. she had asked me about the fish sticks but i didn’t want her to go to the trouble but she still did them. i later thought about it and i could of just ate the fish stick and calamari.
Have i commited a grave sin here. offering up something and then have to stop it.

Dear one,
Dear not. Not only have you NOT committed a grave sin, you have made your sacrifice all the sweeter to our Dear Lord. - - Here is why.
First, you fasting is obviously something you think about and take seriously. It is not just done in mindless rote.
Second, When faced with the situation at your holida house, you casued no disruption but made the loving choice of eating whatever was prepared.
In both of these things your actions were based on Love and done in humility…There can be no sin in that.

I recall hearing that St Francis would never kill an animal, but if he was brought meat to eat, he would not turn it down. He would eat it our of love and respect for His host so as not to cause scandal or disruption…or to call attention to himself. Again - Love and humility…

So - far from being sinful - your action was actually a greater sacrifice than if you had kept your abstainence for the entire day…

Peace
James

 

[Waiting]

Dear one,
Dear not. Not only have you NOT committed a grave sin, you have made your sacrifice all the sweeter to our Dear Lord. - - Here is why.
First, you fasting is obviously something you think about and take seriously. It is not just done in mindless rote.
Second, When faced with the situation at your holida house, you casued no disruption but made the loving choice of eating whatever was prepared.
In both of these things your actions were based on Love and done in humility…There can be no sin in that.

I recall hearing that St Francis would never kill an animal, but if he was brought meat to eat, he would not turn it down. He would eat it our of love and respect for His host so as not to cause scandal or disruption…or to call attention to himself. Again - Love and humility…

So - far from being sinful - your action was actually a greater sacrifice than if you had kept your abstainence for the entire day…

Peace
James

I am in total agreement with you. I know the Lord was pleased with how the situation was handled. No regrets are necessary, just continue on. This event was an exception.

 

[spirocatania]

thanks for all your help.

 

[LilyM]

I recall hearing that St Francis would never kill an animal, but if he was brought meat to eat, he would not turn it down. He would eat it our of love and respect for His host so as not to cause scandal or disruption…or to call attention to himself. Again - Love and humility…

So - far from being sinful - your action was actually a greater sacrifice than if you had kept your abstainence for the entire day…

Peace
James

I also read a story about St Francis that one of his monks was ill and ordered by the doctor to eat meat to rebuild his strength, at a time when all his fellow brothers were abstaining from meat. Not only did the saint make sure the ill one ate what was required, he told all the other brothers to eat meat with him so that he wouldn’t feel left out or alone.

THAT is the essence of charity to others - to do something you’d rather not do, as long as no sin is involved, which pleases them. In this case there is no sin in changing your Friday penance from abstinence from meat to something else.

 

[RSD]

As a very general remark, this is a good reminder that we must not take our own personal intentions, however noble, as being equivalent to solemn vows. I do not mean that we should lightly or inconsiderately give up an intention to offer sacrifices, but we can’t think that to change what we intend, due to changing circumstances, is like putting your hand to the plow and then leaving it.

So, it is your intention, your sacrifice, and your obligation as well as your freedom to change with circumstances. To the greater glory of God!