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JillD
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Visalia, California USA |
| Posts: | 600 |
| First Name: | Jill | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | heathen, EvFree, Messianic, LC-MS, Catholic 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 10:24 am |
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The other day I ran across an online discussion about whether or not Catholics can now eat meat on Fridays. A light bulb went off in my head that I have been and continue to learn about what the Catholic Church teaches about doctrine, but I don't know very much about the practice - like fasting from meat on Fridays. (And why is it meat, anyway??) Who is going to tell us this sort of thing? Will it/should it come up in RCIA classes? Will it soak in just by being in the Church regularly? (I doubt it as I've seen and heard little in the way of that sort of instruction.) It's the strangest feeling to go to Mass and feel like my head is full of knowledge from books and websites, but empty of what I'm supposed to DO there.
(And if there's a better forum for this topic, move me! I couldn't figure out which one was best...)
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"The alternative to obedience is to turn the conversation into a cacophony of Christians making it up as they go along." - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
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Truthseeker
Member
| Joined: | Wed Oct 4th, 2006 |
| Location: | Costa Mesa, California USA |
| Posts: | 340 |
| First Name: | Laura | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | lapsed and returned CATHOLIC!!!!!! |
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Posted: Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 01:10 pm |
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Oh - I'm so happy I kind of know this one.
Fridays are a day of penance, because it is the day Jesus died for us. We do some act (of which I still forget 99 perceent of the time) to show our sorrow at having caused Him to do this.
Back in the olden days, meat was a luxury, and so to abstain from meat on Fridays was a form of sacrificing somethng good, and that you wanted. Since we now live in a day when meat is available (to most people) for every meal and so affordable, it's not really a special thing to sacrifice, anymore. So it was decided that each Friday sacrifice be decided by the faithful, because they would know what was a sacrifice for them. Maybe, eat meat if you're vegetarian. Attend Friday Mass, if you don't usually attend weekdays. Do true charitible work. Spend extra time in prayer. Etc. If you do nothing else, you are still supposed to give up meat. Just do SOMETHING to commemorate the day and offer it up to Jesus.
Love,
Laura
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Lord, please make my will your Will!
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David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 1715 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 10:21 pm |
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All right, Jill, per your request I’ve moved you into a forum that deals specifically with what the Friday abstinence/penance is about. You will notice its title: The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Why is that significant? Because these works are what you are supposed to do as a Christian.
You can read about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in the Catechism. Here are some pertinent excerpts:
1460 The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent’s personal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed. It can consist of prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, “provided we suffer with him.” (Romans 8:17; Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:1-2; cf. Council of Trent (1551): Denzinger, Sources of Catholic Doctrine 1690)
1473 The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the “old man” and to put on the “new man.” (Ephesians 4:22, 24)
2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. (Cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 120) Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.
2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homily on the Rich Man and Lazarus 2,5) “The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity”: (Apostolicam Actuositatem 8 §5)
When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice. (St. Gregory the Great, Regula Pastoralis. 3,21)
2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. (Cf. Isaiah 58:6-7; Hebrews 13:3) Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. (Cf. Matthew 25:31-46) Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God: (Cf. Tobias 4:5-11; Sirach 17:22; Matthew 6:2-4)
He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none and he who has food must do likewise. (Luke 3:11) But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. (Luke 11:41) If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? (James 2:15–15; cf. 1 John 3:17)
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Also, one biblical passage that cannot be passed over with regard to what we as Christians are called to do is Luke 10:25–37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. Basically, we show our love of God by demonstrating our love of neighbor. “We love, because he first loved us. If any one says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also” (1 John 4:19–21).
David
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