Going beyond the bare minimum especially on Fridays

[Seven77]

 Today I had a burger for lunch and I immediately regretted it. As much as possible, I try to abstain from eating meat on Fridays even though the US Bishops have made it optional, hoping that people on their own initiative will do so.  I don't really do this with an intentionality, which makes it easy for me to forget as I did today… actually I didn't forget, maybe I just got into the frame of mind of not even caring.

 I  think that we can and should do better… we should be able to take up the practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays except for Easter Friday, not because we have to but because we want to.  Where is our love?  Why do we settle for doing the bare minimum? I know that some of us can even be straight up being vegan on Friday.  In this Jubilee year of Mercy, I know we can do this, we can unite ourselves to Christ on the Cross, for the sake of our suffering and persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. 

 I found this to be inspiring:

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/steven-greydanus/meatless-fridays

[DominicanHeart]

Just out of curiosity, did it become optional to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent after Vatican II?

[Nihil Obstat]

15 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

Just out of curiosity, did it become optional to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent after Vatican II?

According to current canon law, national bishops' conferences have the authority to allow the faithful to substitute some other penance instead of abstaining from meat. All dioceses except the dioceses of England and Wales currently allow it, I believe. In practice, it seems that most Catholics simply forget the substituting bit...

[Peace]

Heck. Some of us are still trying to get to the bare minimum!

[Gabriela]

I propose fasting every Friday on bread and water. I did that this year for the Triduum and found it was actually much easier than the usual 1+not-quite-another-1 thing Catholics do.

And then, we can "graduate" to fasting every Friday and Wednesday on bread and water. Cuz really, it's doable.

By the way, in addition to the Friday in Easter week, don't forget the Friday in Christmastide and the Friday after Thanksgiving, aka "Turkey Friday—'Murica!". 

[Seven77]

1 hour ago, Nihil Obstat said:

In practice, it seems that most Catholics simply forget the substituting bit...

 That's why I find it easier to just abstain from meat as the penance. I'm not very creative with coming up with substitutes.

[Nihil Obstat]

Just now, Seven77 said:

 That's why I find it easier to just abstain from meat as the penance. I'm not very creative with coming up with substitutes.

Agreed.

[truthfinder]

1 hour ago, Gabriela said:

I propose fasting every Friday on bread and water. I did that this year for the Triduum and found it was actually much easier than the usual 1+not-quite-another-1 thing Catholics do.

And then, we can "graduate" to fasting every Friday and Wednesday on bread and water. Cuz really, it's doable.

By the way, in addition to the Friday in Easter week, don't forget the Friday in Christmastide and the Friday after Thanksgiving, aka "Turkey Friday—'Murica!". 

Hate to be a no-fun person but Friday of Christmas doesn't 'count' anymore.  It got downgraded in the reforms (including the 1962 calendar, so it also affects trads).  Friday of Christmas is 'only' a feast and therefore not enough to counteract the abstitnence law, only solemnities (or first class feasts in the EF) out rank Friday penance. 

[Gabriela]

10 minutes ago, truthfinder said:

Hate to be a no-fun person but Friday of Christmas doesn't 'count' anymore.  It got downgraded in the reforms (including the 1962 calendar, so it also affects trads).  Friday of Christmas is 'only' a feast and therefore not enough to counteract the abstitnence law, only solemnities (or first class feasts in the EF) out rank Friday penance. 

Well thank God somebody finally told me!

[DominicanHeart]

I just thought it sounded like something Vatican II came up with. I can come up with substitutes no problem. 

[truthfinder]

54 minutes ago, DominicanHeart said:

I just thought it sounded like something Vatican II came up with. I can come up with substitutes no problem. 

I became really good at coming up with bad substitutes - "oh yeah, one extra hail mary - that's an extra penance - done!"

So I finally just got honest with myself and went no meat on fridays. 

[Spem in alium]

I abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, as a rule/guideline in my congregation. The bishops' conference in my country doesn't make abstaining on Friday mandatory but recommends it. I was actually having a discussion on this very issue yesterday with two of my sisters and a friend. One sister said what you have essentially said, seven77: that it's not simply about not eating meat, but about the motivation. Do we fast to gain admiration from others, or simply because we "need to"...or do we actually strive to align ourselves with something greater through self-denial? She said it's not really fasting to say "I don't eat meat on Fridays" but then have salmon, which can be pretty expensive here.  It's more about making choices that bring us closer to poverty and closer to Jesus. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Spem in alium

[Gabriela]

4 hours ago, Spem in alium said:

I abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, as a rule/guideline in my congregation. The bishops' conference in my country doesn't make abstaining on Friday mandatory but recommends it. I was actually having a discussion on this very issue yesterday with two of my sisters and a friend. One sister said what you have essentially said, seven77: that it's not simply about not eating meat, but about the motivation. Do we fast to gain admiration from others, or simply because we "need to"...or do we actually strive to align ourselves with something greater through self-denial? She said it's not really fasting to say "I don't eat meat on Fridays" but then have salmon, which can be pretty expensive here.  It's more about making choices that bring us closer to poverty and closer to Jesus. 

You're not in America? I never knew that! Where are you? (If you don't mind saying...)

I was taught by my godmother that, if you're fasting and someone insists that you go out to lunch with them, you should go rather than disclose that you're fasting. Eat something small, or just get a drink if you can get by with that. And if there's nothing but meat on the menu, then eat the meat, and do the other penance.

In one way I think the lifting of the Friday abstinence does enable us to be more humble, in that, if I find myself in a situation where I can't keep my abstinence a secret, then I can make a choice: either eat the meat and do another penance, or don't eat the meat and disclose the abstinence or lie about why I'm not eating meat. I should think there are times when either of those is preferable. I've certainly used the former before myself.

That being said, I don't think that's why the Council made that allowance, or why the Bishops ultimately made the Friday abstinence optional. And in the larger scheme of things, I think the consequences have not been good, because now when I go to a Catholic function on Fridays, everyone is eating meat, and it's really sad and uncomfortable for me. Why do I have to make that choice between eating the meat and telling fellow Catholics I don't eat meat on Friday, such that now I'm the "holier than thou" Catholic? It's another choice that looks good on the surface, but ultimately divides us, I think.

[beatitude]

I'm vegan. People have strange ideas about vegan food and assume this means I must already be leading a deeply penitential life on bread and gruel, but the vegetable curry with coconut naan bread and spiced lime and coriander rice that I'll be eating tonight hardly qualifies as penance in anyone's book, so even though I never eat meat I have to think quite seriously about my Friday penance to make sure I'm not just living by the letter of the law but not the spirit. To be honest abstaining from meat was rarely a penance for me even when I did eat it - for example, as a child I would just substitute a veggie burger for my chicken burger and still eat it with fries and barbecue sauce and everything else I liked. Some people in England have a traditional fish and chip supper on Fridays, and that is not exactly penance either.

I think it's nice to have something that we all do as a community, like abstaining from meat, but another good question to ask is, "What will help me remember Christ on Calvary today?" This allows us to choose a second personal penance that is meaningful, or if necessary, a good substitution for abstinence that isn't just an extra Glory Be.

[Spem in alium]

2 hours ago, Gabriela said:

You're not in America? I never knew that! Where are you? (If you don't mind saying...)

I was taught by my godmother that, if you're fasting and someone insists that you go out to lunch with them, you should go rather than disclose that you're fasting. Eat something small, or just get a drink if you can get by with that. And if there's nothing but meat on the menu, then eat the meat, and do the other penance.

In one way I think the lifting of the Friday abstinence does enable us to be more humble, in that, if I find myself in a situation where I can't keep my abstinence a secret, then I can make a choice: either eat the meat and do another penance, or don't eat the meat and disclose the abstinence or lie about why I'm not eating meat. I should think there are times when either of those is preferable. I've certainly used the former before myself.

That being said, I don't think that's why the Council made that allowance, or why the Bishops ultimately made the Friday abstinence optional. And in the larger scheme of things, I think the consequences have not been good, because now when I go to a Catholic function on Fridays, everyone is eating meat, and it's really sad and uncomfortable for me. Why do I have to make that choice between eating the meat and telling fellow Catholics I don't eat meat on Friday, such that now I'm the "holier than thou" Catholic? It's another choice that looks good on the surface, but ultimately divides us, I think.

I'm an Aussie.  

You make good points. I think it's good to fast, if you have the right intention, but it's also important to be open and flexible as much as possible. When I've visited my family since living at the convent, they've sometimes cooked meat on Wednesday or Friday and I've had to eat --- though my mother was incredibly kind and actually cooked me fish individually on the Friday I arrived home for my longer visit, even though the rest of the family ate meat. And sometimes you visit someone and they serve only meat, and I feel in that situation it's uncharitable and far worse to refuse than to break your fast. 

Not eating meat on Wednesdays and Fridays has helped me to align myself more with people who suffer financially. Meat - and nice meat - can be very expensive, especially if you're feeding a family. Vegetables and fish can, in contrast, be very cheap (but it again depends on the quality, as some are more expensive. When I fast, I'm reminded of how privileged and fortunate I am.