Why abstain from meat on Friday?

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Norm_The_Robot

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Why? I mean I do try my best to go along with it every lent (I LOVE fish tacos and it gives me an excuse to eat them every friday!) But what is the significance of this? Who thought of it? I don;t recall Jesus mentioning that at all in any of the gospels.

He said

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f] 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

So I have heard it said because meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc) is a luxury. That may have been true i past times where red meat was luxurius and fish was kind of the common man’s food. But these days it’s the other way around. Seefood is the luxury and chicken, prok, etc are what regular folk can afford. Isd that kind of penalizing the poor who cannot afford fish to sdatisfy their protein needs that day? Also doesn’t the fact that I love fish tacos from Del Taco so much kind of defeat the purpose of the sacrifice, while still following the letter of the law?
 
There’s a lot of explanations floating around the internet. The most satisfying one I have come across is that we give up meat (i.e. “flesh”) on Fridays because that is the day that Jesus gave up His flesh for the life of the world. Thus, it is more about making a sacrifice that mirrors Christ’s than it is simply about giving up something we like. It has significant sign value apart from being something that is hard to do.

I wish I could remember where I heard that explanation, though. I am unsure of the historical background.
 
Norm_The_Robot said:
Why? I mean I do try my best to go along with it every lent (I LOVE fish tacos and it gives me an excuse to eat them every friday!) But what is the significance of this? Who thought of it? I don;t recall Jesus mentioning that at all in any of the gospels.

He said

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f] 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

So I have heard it said because meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc) is a luxury. That may have been true i past times where red meat was luxurius and fish was kind of the common man’s food. But these days it’s the other way around. Seefood is the luxury and chicken, prok, etc are what regular folk can afford. Isd that kind of penalizing the poor who cannot afford fish to sdatisfy their protein needs that day? Also doesn’t the fact that I love fish tacos from Del Taco so much kind of defeat the purpose of the sacrifice, while still following the letter of the law?
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The purpose of Friday abstinence from meat is because we are supposed to recall Jesus’ Passion on Good Friday. However, according to some dioceses, the Friday abstinence from meat can be replaced by some other penance and/or abstinence from food on Friday, at least outside of Lent.

I try to get creative with Friday penances outside of Lent. I will do “leg day” or some other tough workout at the gym, more homework than usual, or abstain from alcohol until after Adoration.

It’s not about any kind of uncleanness in the food itself, which is what Jesus is talking about in the passages you mentioned; he was countering the Pharisees who were incredibly anal and nit-picky about Jewish dietary laws while neglecting the weightier things of the Law.
 
Not sure of the answer, but I don’t give it a thought…there are other acts of penance you can take on…I do…and in a couple hours I’ll be lighting the Barbeque for a delightful little piece of tri-tip, without a twinge of guilt!
 
Any type of fasting, lenten or otherwise, teaches one self control, something most of us sorely lack.
 
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