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+
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