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Wesrock
Guest
The meats we abstain from are from warm-blooded animals. They are “bloody” meats. Abstaining from them is in remembrance of the blood that Christ shed on the cross.
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DeniseNY
Guest
That doesn’t change the fact that the Church still requires this very basic penance during Lent.
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twf
Guest
And that’s an option on most or nearly all Fridays, depending on where you live. In the US, you could elect to abstain from sushi, if sushi is something you really love, on all non-Lenten Fridays. Here in Canada, you could do so even on Lenten Fridays (with the exception of Good Friday)… will depend on the rules on abstinence / Friday penance established by the local bishops.
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Cruciferi
Guest
Exactly. Meatloaf is still great on Saturday!
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DeniseNY
Guest
Right? It seems like such a simple and workable solution!
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Lifeisbeautiful3
Guest
Agreed. But while it might meet the ‘letter of the law’, I don’t think it continues to meet the ‘spirit of the law’
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powerandglory
Guest
I get that a wife cooking for her husband is a nice act of love and service. However, no matter what she makes, you still are obliged to obey the laws of the Church which require you to abstain from eating meat on Lenten Fridays. Your wife is not Catholic but you are, therefore the greater obligation here falls to you. Sometimes my “heathen” husband cooks me meals on Fridays and also forgets that I don’t eat during this time. (In his defense, I’m newly reverted and we are both re-learning here.) But when he does, I just say, “Thanks babe, but I cant eat this today.” , and then I go get a tuna sub or a cheese pizza and all is well. No one is forcing you to eat meat, just saying.
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on_the_hill
Guest
My wife isn’t too strict about Lenten rules when it comes to food, but one night I really wanted some meaty leftovers we had in the refrigerator, and when I petulantly declared that I was going to stay up after midnight so I could eat it, she admonished me, “You know that’s not really what the rule’s intent is, so you might be following the letter but you’d be violating the spirit. If you’re going to do it that way you may as well eat it now.” She had a point, and I repented of my intent.
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DeniseNY
Guest
Perhaps, but that’s up to the Church to determine and I trust Her wisdom
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C.Ray
Guest
I don’t think I agree, actually. We wait all Lent for the Easter Vigil, too don’t we? By her logic, maybe we should continue the Lenten practices all year. And maybe we should, but that’s a different argument I suppose.
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Cruciferi
Guest
I’ve done that. Nothing like a midnight ham sandwich.
Eh, that doesn’t bother me. If somebody wants to stay up until midnight and have a chicken sandwich, I say go for it. If somebody eats Boca meatless burgers on Friday, I say go for it. If somebody wants lobster and shrimp on Friday, well, go for it.
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Tommy999
Guest
Have you considered getting takeout from a fish restaurant on Fridays until she realizes how important this issue is for your faith? If she doesn’t like fish, these places usually have other selections too. She doesn’t have to be Catholic to understand the concept of having and following rules. Being nice and telling her that you cannot eat the meat until the next day is also an option, as others have suggested.
I’m not Catholic but try to eat fish on Fridays as a spiritual discipline and communicated this in advance to my wife. My wife, who is a protestant and doesn’t like Catholicism or fish, got used to me refusing to eat meat on Fridays in Lent and letting her meals sit in the refrigerator until the next day to the point where she now just allows me to get takeout from a fish restaurant on Fridays or makes me fish (tuna cakes is her specialty) on Fridays, or I make some fish myself. It took a while but it finally sunk in that she no longer makes meat dishes on Lenten Fridays. She doesn’t agree with the need to do this but she does it out of respect to me.
I’m not Catholic but try to eat fish on Fridays as a spiritual discipline and communicated this in advance to my wife. My wife, who is a protestant and doesn’t like Catholicism or fish, got used to me refusing to eat meat on Fridays in Lent and letting her meals sit in the refrigerator until the next day to the point where she now just allows me to get takeout from a fish restaurant on Fridays or makes me fish (tuna cakes is her specialty) on Fridays, or I make some fish myself. It took a while but it finally sunk in that she no longer makes meat dishes on Lenten Fridays. She doesn’t agree with the need to do this but she does it out of respect to me.
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C.Ray
Guest
I see the logic in that, but I am not sure I could mouth those words without sounding rude and ungrateful. That’s a delivery problem on my part and not a problem with the idea; but for the sake of peace I sometimes keep silent.
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C.Ray
Guest
That’s funny, another story my old country priest used to tell (and he told them often) was that the bishop would not dream of eating meat on a Friday, and so satisfied himself instead with lobster thermador.
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Cruciferi
Guest
Hey, that works too. Lent wasn’t supposed to suck all of the joy out of life. Nobody mandated stale bread and vegetable broth. Just follow the rules and anything additional is up to YOU.
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Calliope
Guest
I follow a faith that isn’t very common, so it’s on me to arrange to meet the requirements. Don’t get days off work for holy days, others often have plans and anticipate me joining in because to them it’s just another day, etc.
So I just have to get used to mentioning it ahead of time and then remind them the day before and also on the day if my religious practice will be affecting my schedule, meal plans etc.
Sometimes I’ll bring it up before grocery shopping… We have to remember to purchase… because of the holy day this week or whatever. Write it on the calendar, even send a text.
It’s 100% on me because there are very few societal reminders.
As others have suggested, I’d make a point of reminding your wife that meatless Friday is coming, please make you a peanut butter sandwich and you’ll pick up dinner for both of you, etc.
Or make your own lunch the night before.
So I just have to get used to mentioning it ahead of time and then remind them the day before and also on the day if my religious practice will be affecting my schedule, meal plans etc.
Sometimes I’ll bring it up before grocery shopping… We have to remember to purchase… because of the holy day this week or whatever. Write it on the calendar, even send a text.
It’s 100% on me because there are very few societal reminders.
As others have suggested, I’d make a point of reminding your wife that meatless Friday is coming, please make you a peanut butter sandwich and you’ll pick up dinner for both of you, etc.
Or make your own lunch the night before.
I find that non-Catholics (aside from Orthodox, Jews, and possibly Muslims) don’t really have a concept of noting that the day of the week, aside from Sunday, has anything to do with religion. It’s not part of the larger culture.
My former place of business, in which there was absolutely no Catholic sensibility, scheduled a celebratory luncheon for Good Friday. I commented to my co-worker that had I been invited (I wasn’t), I would have had to draw the line and decline the offer.
Now that was obtuse.
My former place of business, in which there was absolutely no Catholic sensibility, scheduled a celebratory luncheon for Good Friday. I commented to my co-worker that had I been invited (I wasn’t), I would have had to draw the line and decline the offer.
Now that was obtuse.
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Rabbi
Guest
Haha, now you know how we Jews feel about pork! I’m very disappointed that you’d call your wife a “heathen.” I hope you meant nothing derogatory by the term.
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TheLittleLady
Guest
That calendar in the kitchen wall? Write LENT on the Fridays of Lent. Write “No Meat For Me” on meatless days, or easier, go meatless Friday all year long.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
You can’t make or buy your own food?
“Sorry, honey, I can’t eat chicken tonight, it’s Friday in Lent. I’ll make myself a peanut butter sandwich or run down to the fast food for a fish sandwich.”
My spouse often made or brought food and I guarantee if I told him that once he would have been careful to make sure to cook or bring something I could eat the next Friday, or call me to ask what was okay for me to eat, because he wanted me to be happy. I wonder if your wife would do the same? Most spouses don’t cook stuff that their partner can’t eat for some reason and just expect them to ingest it.
“Sorry, honey, I can’t eat chicken tonight, it’s Friday in Lent. I’ll make myself a peanut butter sandwich or run down to the fast food for a fish sandwich.”
My spouse often made or brought food and I guarantee if I told him that once he would have been careful to make sure to cook or bring something I could eat the next Friday, or call me to ask what was okay for me to eat, because he wanted me to be happy. I wonder if your wife would do the same? Most spouses don’t cook stuff that their partner can’t eat for some reason and just expect them to ingest it.
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