Friday after Ash Wednesday

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”



Reminder: Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent.

Why?

• For the love of God.
• To honor the passion and death of Jesus, who was crucified on a Friday.
• To remember in our bodies the sovereignty of God.
• To practice solidarity with Catholics throughout the world.
• To practice solidarity with all those who cannot afford to eat meat on Friday or any other day of the week.
• To reconsider our meat-eating habits.

Every religious tradition has rules about eating. Broadly speaking, it’s a physical way of practicing one’s faith. It shows that your faith makes a difference in the real world and not just the imaginary/spiritual world. It may not be a huge difference, and it may become so habitual and so deeply rooted in one’s culture as to seem no sacrifice at all, but it should not be lightly dismissed.

Perhaps the reason Catholics gave up the practice of abstaining from meat on Friday was it was described as a sacrifice though it was neither painful nor inconvenient, and “everyone knows” sacrifices are supposed to be painful and inconvenient. Forty years later we might challenge that assumption:

First, the word sacrifice comes from two Latin words and literally means, "to make holy." A sacrifice does not have to be inconvenient or painful. It can be downright fun!

Secondly, therapists who help people to regain their health or lost abilities, in my experience, don’t ask their patients to suffer a whole lot of pain. Rather, they find the easiest, safest and most convenient methods to recovery because their patients will, more than likely, stick to those methods. Even when they are pressured by other circumstances – a busy schedule or the demands of other responsibilities – the patient who wants to recover will work at it. But if a method is both inconvenient and painful, it probably won't work.

Ask yourself some realistic questions:

• How difficult is it to abstain from meat on Friday for the next seven weeks?
• How inconvenient will it be for your family or those with whom you share meals?
• How much planning will it entail?
• How much control do you have over your food?
• Are you content with that?
• Can you and your family do this "mindfully?" 

To be a true sacrifice it has to be done intentionally and with the right intention -- for the Love of God. On Fridays of Lent we should remember how our bridegroom was taken away from us.