Ping!
That whole meat on Fridays thing? It’s changed about a dozen times since I was a kid.
First it was a sin to eat meat on any Friday, then only certain Fridays, then only during Lent. Then eating meat on Friday is okay. Now I’m not sure.
So is gluttony Tuesday okay or is that a sin? Point is, sin by Biblical standards is immutable. God is holy He doesn’t change His position on sin.
Just sayin’.
If it was a Church rule that established that eating meat on Fridays is a sin, the Church can rescind such. What it can’t do is rescind a sin if it was established by God, such as the 10 commandments.
In the case of eating meat on Fridays, that was a Church-created sin in the first place, as there is absolutely nothing in Scripture that addresses the topic.
Playing a bit fast and loose with the “what you loose here shall be loosed in Heaven” clause IMO.
It boils down to what is moral law - which cannot be changed, and what is Church law. The moral law would be going to Mass on Sunday because it comes from the Decalogue. The Church law would be how long to fast before receiving the Eucharist.
Some seem to think he can put people in and out of heaven at will.
Our diocese observes the no meat on Friday rule during Lent, so that we are joined together in a sacrifice that unites us. The rest of the year, I don’t worry about it. I think it was more of a sacrifice before vegan and vegetarians became so common. Fish is easy to obtain and going out for lobster and shrimp is hardly a sacrifice. I RME at this one most of the time.
I should add that after the fasting and abstinence of Lent, it indeed feels like a time of celebration that it is. He is risen. Alleluia.
Does anyone know what the reason was for changing this rule? I mean, was abstaining from meat every Friday really such a problem?
Never believed it to be a sin. It was a kick for the fish industry
I’ve been for a long time perplexed that one could go to Red Lobster on Friday, have a shrimp cocktail appetizer, lobster dinner with a nice bottle of wine, and a cheesecake dessert in a State of Grace, whereas if you stayed home and had a cold can of beans-and-franks you were in a State of Sin.
My mom so old school she remember not eating meat on Friday until mid 1960s
There are many reasons I thank God for having delivered me from the legalistic Catholic Church. This “mortal sin” issue is one of them. As if God is keeping a calculator and “sin ledger” on each person! We create our own eternal judgment, according to how we care for others and love God. Our Heavenly Father isn’t the one to decide where our heart and spirit ends up. We do. Sorry to offend staunch Catholics, but I’m so grateful God delivered me from what was a mental prison for me. Our entire family is delivered, and it’s a blessing.
Thank you for this thread...I needed to be reminded why...