Fish Eaters and Meatless Fridays

So what was with all of these 'fish eaters' remarks people used you use when referring to Catholics? Depending on who said it, it could have been meant quite rudely. President Kennedy was derogatorily called a 'mackerel snapper'. It is of course because Catholics abstained from eating meat on Fridays. Abstinence from meat is more than just going without it serves as a reminder that Christ offered His flesh for us when he died on the cross.

Before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) we abstained from meat on Fridays year-round, not just during the Fridays of Lent. But since the Second Vatican Council said we could now eat meat on all Fridays except during Lent, it doesn't really matter. Right?

Why did the Church eliminate abstinence and penance on the Fridays outside of Lent? This was a practice that goes way back to the early days of Christianity. What happened?

In 1966 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) realized that many people were no longer eating that much meat and some eating no meat at all with vegetarianism gaining in popularity. For these people, no meat on Fridays is no sacrifice. So the USCCB issued its Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence which stated the practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays throughout the year would no longer be mandatory.

So is that it? We are off the hook on Fridays outside of Lent. Freedom at last! Not so fast! Don't pick up that steak knife just yet. What many people fail to do is read the rest of the statement after the see bit that says no longer mandatory. The statement continues with "American Catholics are to either continue to abstain from meat, or find an alternative form of personal penance on all Fridays throughout the year."

The Church's Code of Canon Law states:

1250 All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the entire Church.

1251 Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

1252 All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

1253 It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

So yes, you can have that bacon cheeseburger but you must give up something else, something that you REALLY like or as Canon 1253 says, "other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety."

In addition, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Fridays in Lent are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence. Anyone from the age of 18 to 59 are obliged to fast and anyone 14 and older are obliged to abstain from meat. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Or two smaller meals may also be taken, but should not equal a full meal.

So, there's the real story. I still give up meat on all Fridays. What will you do for the Fridays outside of Lent?

As a side note, here's a little history that is related to Friday abstinence.

If you are like many Catholics, you might head to McDonald's and get a Filet-O-Fish sandwich for your Friday meal. Did you know that it was for meatless Fridays that it was created? It started in Monfort Heights, Ohio. Lou Groen bought a McDonald's franchise in 1959 and struggled to survive as a new unknown business, especially on Fridays since Monfort Heights was about 87 percent Catholic. After noticing that the competition was selling fish on Fridays he decided that was his only chance for survival. He experimented with several inexpensive fish sandwich recipes. McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc, originally told Groen, he didn’t want his stores "stunk up with the smell of fish.” Kroc eventually relented, and the rest is history.

So if you are a fan of the Filet-O-Fish, you have the Catholic tradition of meatless Fridays to thank.

+JMJ+

Did the Catholic Church add Books to the Bible?

So who's telling the truth, the Protestants that accuse or the Catholics that deny? Let's look at some of the history of the Bible for the answer.

Jesus, and the Apostles did not have the New Testament, they were Jews, they had the Jewish texts called the Tanakh which consisted of three parts, the Torah "Teaching" (the Five Books of Moses); Nevi'im "Prophets"; and Ketuvim "Writings".

When Paul, in his second letter to Timothy verse 16 said "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Contrary to what some try to say, the scripture Paul was speaking of was not the New Testament since it did not exist, it was the Jewish texts that Jesus taught from and were read in the synagogues.

Jesus never told His Apostles to write a book. He told them to build His Church, (singular) and to preach to all the nations.

For more than 300 years after the Apostles there was still no New Testament, there were only the shared oral traditions, (ooh, tradition, the terrible "T" word) the writings, and the letters of the Apostles and others. But not everyone had access to the writings of the Apostles since they had to be hand-written. All most people had is what was what was handed down from the Apostles by word of mouth and tradition. (there it is again)

OK now let's back up a bit.

In A.D. 70 the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and a lot of the original texts were destroyed. At that time Christians were seen as a threat so around A.D. 100, the Jewish leaders met at the Council of Jamnia. They decided to officially list the books that were to compose their Scriptures. They rejected the seven Deuterocanonical books because they were being used to help spread Christianity. Many of the Jewish leaders originally used the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX, for the 70 men who translated it from Hebrew into Greek). The Septuagint included the seven Deuterocanonical books. They also rejected them because they believed that they had only been written in Greek and not written in Hebrew. (Although in 1947 fragments in Hebrew of Tobit and Sirach were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most Scripture scholars believe that 1 Maccabees, Judith, Baruch and parts of Wisdom were also originally written in Hebrew.)

So, the seven books were used during the time of the Apostles. Jesus even taught from them. Not inspired? Really?

What we now know as our modern Bible had not been gathered, combined, and chosen as an official canon of inspired Scripture until it was identified by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome in A.D. 382 and reaffirmed at the local Councils of Hippo in A.D. 393 and Carthage in A.D. 397, and by Pope Innocent I in A.D. 405 at the Ecumenical Council of Florence. St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate in A.D. 420 contained the full canon of Scripture including the seven Deuterocanonical books. In 1442, the Catholic list was again restated, against those who wanted to include even more books. In 1570, in response to Martin Luther's revolt, at the Ecumenical Council of Trent it was decreed infallibly that the list of 46 books of the O.T. including the Deuterocanonical books and 26 books of the N.T. was the official canon of books and were approved for reading in the Church.

There it is, over 1,600 years ago the 72 books of the Bible were approved by the Church that Jesus started. But one man decided that he knew better than Jesus' Church and on his own decided that he had the authority to say what books were and were not inspired.

In 1534, Martin Luther, rejecting the Greek, translated the Hebrew text of the Old Testament into German and grouped the 7 Deuterocanonical books, (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and l & ll Maccabees) under the title, "Apocrypha", declaring, "These books which are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, yet are useful and good for reading". Martin Luther also had problems with Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation and grouped them as non canonical. He wanted to remove Hebrews because it supports the existence of the priesthood, and James because it contradicted his claim of sola fide (faith alone).

The canon of Scripture including the seven Deuterocanonical books was determined back in A.D. 393. However, most Protestant Bibles either place them as having lesser value in an appendix or completely omit them because Martin Luther decided that he did not like them.

So, history show us that Jews and Christians, including the Apostles and Jesus did in fact use the Deuterocanonical books as early as the first century. The Jews used them before the time of Christ. Therefore, the answer is no, the Catholic Church did not add seven extra books to the Bible. The original printings of the Bible had the Deuterocanonical books. It was Protestants that removed them despite the fact that they were used by Jesus and the Apostles, because Martin Luther decided that they were not inspired.

For those that reject these books, do you not understand just how much information in the timeline of salvation history you are missing?

+JMJ+

Are Catholics Christian?

This is such a common question raised by non-Catholics. More often they put it in the form of what they consider a definitive statement; "Catholics are not Christians. "We have all either heard someone say or maybe even you have said that Catholics are not Christians. I have even heard a Catholic say "No, I'm Catholic." when asked if he was a Christian. So even some Catholics unfortunately have trouble answering this question because Catholics never ask each other if they are Christian. It is never addressed. The truth is something that we assume everyone should know. So, what is the answer? What is the truth? Are Catholics Christian?

The simple answer is “Yes, Catholics are Christians.” 

This is a false teaching that so many people believe; and many preachers, out of ignorance of (and some with malice against) Catholicism proclaim this from their pulpit. Their congregations believe this because they believe their preacher would never mislead them. 

I could stop there but that would not be a good enough answer for some people so I will go further and show actual Church teaching to disprove this, ummm, out of Christian charity I will call it a misunderstanding. 

At every Mass we say the Nicene Creed. This is a concise statement of what Catholics believe.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

through Him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation

He came down from Heaven,

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

He suffered death and was buried,

and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The key statements in this creed that support that Catholics are Christians are "I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God" and "by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." This shows that Catholics believe that:

1. Jesus is the Son of the One True God.
2. Jesus was born of a virgin.
3. Jesus was crucified and died for our sins.
4. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.

We acknowledge all these things and that He is our Saviour and it is through Him and His grace alone that we receive Eternal Life.

The Nicene Creed got it's name because it was originally adopted in the city of Nicaea (now Turkey) by the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. In A.D. 381, at the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople it was modified with the addition of "And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. And [we believe] in one, holy, Universal and Apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, [and] we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."

On a side note, the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and some of the major Protestant denominations accept the Nicene Creed as an authoritative statement of the Christian faith. Although some have altered it a bit. Some have even removed the word 'catholic' not realizing the lower case 'c' makes the word catholic a synonym for 'universal'. If it meant the Catholic Church proper, it would start with a capital 'C'. This is one of the rare occasions that some Protestants actually accept something that has a 100% Catholic origin. Another example of Protestants accepting something that has a 100% Catholic origin is the canon of the 27 books of the New Testament that was adopted at the Synod of Hippo, in A.D. 393; reaffirmed at the Third Council of Carthage in A.D. 397; and again at Carthage in A.D. 419. But that's for another post...

What is the official Church teaching on the Christianity of Catholicism?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a book that describes everything the Catholic Church teaches and believes. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church it states:

422   “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This is “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”: God has visited his people. He has fulfilled the promise he made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation—he has sent his own “beloved Son.”

423   We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the eternal Son of God made man. He “came from God,” “descended from heaven,” and “came in the flesh.” For “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.... And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.”

424   Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his Church.

These three paragraphs from the official teaching of the Catholic Church state clearly and without a doubt that Catholics are indeed Christians. If you walk into any Catholic Church you will see a Crucifix. Most Catholics have Crucifixes some are on necklaces, on the rear view mirror of their cars, and in their homes. What is a Crucifix? A Crucifix is a cross that has the Body of the crucified Jesus Christ on it. A Crucifix is a symbol of what Jesus did for us so that we may have salvation.

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness

Many other Christians have problems with a crucifix. They say "My Jesus is not on the cross anymore!" How can you follow Paul's example and preach Christ crucified if your cross is empty?

If you are someone that believed that Catholics are not Christians; I hope this helps you know the truth. If so, maybe you could share this new understanding with your friends that are misinformed. God bless. 

+JMJ+