Dear friend, have you ever sacrificed something you wanted in order to demonstrate your love for someone else? That is the concept behind a Friday abstinence. It is a personal discipline, that rises from the heart, out of love for the One who gave His life for us, on a Friday.
At one time, the church mandated this form of abstinence for precisely that purpose. Midway through the 20th century, the Catholic church, acknowledging that some catholics, due to societal constraints, found themselves in situations where such a sacrifice was no longer possible, proffered the notion of substituting another form of personal sacrifice on Fridays. Sadly, most Catholics heard "okay to eat meat on Fridays" but not the part that followed.
Abstinence should come from the heart. I choose to abstain on Fridays, for that very reason, not because it is mandated or in the Bible. In so doing, it becomes a personal journey with our Lord that draws us closer together. Given the increasing number of Americans who consider themselves "vegetarians", mandating a meatless Friday has no effect on them.
What could you sacrifice for one day each week, as an act of love for Jesus Christ?
Well said!
wrong... research your history
The catholic church made a deal with local fishermen to get people to eat more fish
I am not going to sacrifice meat eating for the church to make a buck