CATHOLICISM: Meatless Fridays are here again...

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Here is a good Catholic story I spotted in the Wall Street Journal of all places. The story was titled: “The Return of Meatless Friday” by Francis X. Rocca, a Vatican correspondent for Religion News Service. The subtitle read: Bishops in Britain call on Catholics to abstain year-round, not only during Lent. Interesting ha?

Now it just so happens that I must be a creature of habit because I have fish every Friday and have been doing that all my life. I happen to like fish especially “fish and chips” and area restaurants have “fish specials” every Friday because they know there are many people like me that just continue the habit learned in childhood.

Now, I never really knew why we could eat meat on Friday and I don’t think my parents did either but boy did they observe it; it was hell to pay if you touched meat on Friday! Cooking fish in those days was a real pain since it stunk up the place for days.

I even remember an incident in the grade school I was attending in England where meat was served on a particular Friday. I and the rest of the Polish Catholic boys and girls refused to take the meat from the cafeteria line…all hell broke loose. Parents were called and the principal got involved and so did our local priest.

Obviously the Brits were not Catholic and did not observe meatless Fridays but we, on the other hand, were taught not to touch meat on Fridays under penalty of eternal damnation. Some compromise was reached as I remember but we were hailed as Catholic martyrs or at least the persecuted when we stood up for our faith.

As it turns out, the original purpose of meatless Fridays was an act of penance. Like I said, I don’t understand that since in the old days, meat was a luxury so many did not have it every day anyway so you see where not eating meat for a day as a penance makes little sense to me.

Anyway, that whole thing about meatless Fridays went by the wayside after Vatican II (1965) but like I mentioned, many Catholics still follow the precept to this day out of habit.

So why the hell are meatless Fridays returning (only in England and Wales so far)? Well that crafty old Benedict is at it again; he wants to bring back the old and reverse Vatican II enlightenment.

Why is he doing this? Well Benedict has always said that people are drifting away from the Church and many do not identify themselves as Catholic but still maintain their religiosity but with a more Universalist bend. Benedict wants the Catholic brand to stand out and once again show the world that Catholics are different from all those other Christians.

Everybody knows Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays (or used to) so why not bring it back and who cares what the reasons are…its Catholic. Benedict is also bringing back the Latin Mass..

Related articles

• Francis X. Rocca: The Return of Meatless Friday (online.wsj.com)
• English Bishops Bring Back Meatless Fridays (frstephensmuts.wordpress.com)
• California Catholic Daily - The Ego vs. Meatless Fridays (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
• 6 Reasons to Keep Meatless Fridays (cantuar.blogspot.com)
• 4 Reasons to Applaud the Return of Meatless Fridays.. (catholicculture.org)
• Penance on Friday (cehwiedel.com)
• WDTPRS KUDOS to the Bishops of England and Wales: meatless Fridays re-established (wdtprs.com)
• Black Friday for Catholics | Annalisa Barbieri (guardian.co.uk)