Lent, 2016 - Fasting on ALL Fridays and Lent

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[Salvation]

Fasting on ALL Fridays and Lent

There is some question raised about my strong words (later in this article) regarding one who knowingly and willingly rejects Canon 1251. Some Catholics have attempted to convince me that not observing some sort of fast from some sort of food on all Fridays of the year does not constitute a sin. One has stated it is not a major precept, so "breaking" it is not sinful. This confuses and concerns me. How can any Catholic knowingly and willingly reject ANY precept laid out in Canon Law and not have it be a sin? OK, my thoughts, which I will have verified by a competent Church Authority are as follows:

(I am also pulling this article from the public view on my website, but will make it available privately to some fellow Catholics and/or Church authorities. It will remain "private" until I have received word from a competent Church authority. When I do receive word, I will publish their answer - whether my position is supported or not).

• Canon Law is the legislation of the Church, of which the Pope is the Supreme Legislator.
• Unless a precept is specifically abrogated by competent authority, each precept remains in full force. I cite Canon 33:

  Can. 33 §1 General executory decrees, even if published in directories or other such documents, do not derogate from the law, and any of their provisions which are contrary to the law have no force.
  §2 These decrees cease to have force by explicit or implicit revocation by the competent authority, and by the cessation of the law for whose execution they were issued. They do not cease on the expiry of the authority of the person who issued them, unless the contrary is expressly provided.

• Canon Law is speaking to all Latin Rite Catholics and hence Canon 1251 is a universal decree binding on the entire Latin Church. §2 of Canon 33 stipulates that such laws are binding on "those whose execution they were issued."

• To deliberately reject ANY precept of Canon Law is a sign of disrespect for Church Authority regarding Church Law, and ultimately disrespectful to the Pope, who is the Supreme Legislator of Canon Law. In this respect it can be compared to not honoring your father, for the Pope is our Holy Father - our final authority on earth for matters concerning the Church and our spiritual walk.
• Disrespecting Church Authority and the Holy Father must be seen as sinful, and I still contend, gravely sinful.
• Canon 1251 clearly states that we (all Latin Rite Catholics) are to observe some sort of fast/abstinence on ALL Fridays throughout the year (unless a solemnity falls on a Friday).
• As I understand it, many Episcopal Conferences (competent authorities hereafter referred to as EC) have relaxed the requirement of meat - but something else (some other food, according to Can. 1251) must be abstained from in the place of meat. Canon 1253 allows for the EC to direct certain specific other means of fulfilling the requirement to abstain and/or fast.
• Hence, it must be concurred that any Catholics that knowingly and willingly reject the requirement of Canon 1251 (or whatever, specifically, your EC has allowed according to 1253) do indeed sin in rejecting the competent authority of the Church.

The Church has made it VERY easy to fulfill this request, not that offering up meat on one day per week is really all that difficult, so Catholics really have no excuse not to be doing some form of penance on "all Fridays" throughout the year.

It is the position of this Catholic that we should still adhere to the traditional fast from meat, even if a "lesser requirement" is "available." Bare in mind, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday there is no alternative to meat - all Latin Rite Catholics MUST abstain from meat on these days, under the penalty of mortal sin. Remember, even if your EC has offered an alternative, it is still an alternative and you can choose to adhere to the tradition of offering up meat on Fridays. And you DO sin if you aren't doing something on ALL FRIDAYS throughout the year in accordance with Ecclesial Law and your Episcopal Conference.

Rome Speaks!

Well, my friend also questioned competent authority on this, Rome! Rome's response was to look at Paenitemini, Issued by Pope Paul VI on February 17, 1966. That document can be found at:
. In that document, Pope Paul VI says:

Therefore, the following is declared and established:
I.

1. By divine law all the faithful are required to do penance.
2. The prescriptions of ecclesiastical law regarding penitence are totally reorganized according to the following norms:

II.

1. The time of Lent preserves its penitential character. The days of penitence to be observed under obligation through-out the Church are all Fridays and Ash Wednesday, that is to say the first days of "Grande Quaresima" (Great Lent), according to the diversity of the rite. Their substantial observance binds gravely.
2. Apart from the faculties referred to in VI and VIII regarding the manner of fulfilling the precept of penitence on such days, abstinence is to be observed on every Friday which does not fall on a day of obligation, while abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday or, according to local practice, on the first day of 'Great Lent' and on Good Friday
   

III.

1. The law of abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, the products of milk or condiments made of animal fat.
2. The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing- -as far as quantity and quality are concerned -- approved local custom.

IV. To the law of abstinence those are bound who have completed their 14th year of age. To the law of fast those of the faithful are bound who have completed their 21st year and up until the beginning of their 60th year. As regards those of a lesser age, pastors of souls and parents should see to it with particular care that they are educated to a true sense of penitence.

There's much more in this encyclical, but do note the Holy Father's words, "Therefore, the following is declared and established:" And follow that with the rest of what was stated in the original article (below). In essense, at least one person who has challenged my statement that it is a sin to not do penance (or whatever your Episcopal Conference has determined) has now acknowledged that it is indeed a sin, and one that "binds gravely."

Catholics cannot avoid this precept of "Divine Law."

[Salvation]

Catholics cannot avoid this precept of "Divine Law."

[Salvation]

Lenten Ping!

Fasting Ping!

[Mr. Mojo]

Health-wise, a 24-hour fast once a week is good for you. Drink water, though.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

A blonde married a guy so on their wedding night she expected to have sex. He said “ I can’t, it’s Lent. She replied “to who and for how long?”

[BipolarBob]

Fasting is good for all denominations.

[Salvation]

Lent, 2016 - Fasting on ALL Fridays and Lent Lent, 2016 - Early Church Teaching on the Eucharist
Lent, 2016: True Church
For Lent, 2016, The Catechism of the Catholic Church

[lightman]

The Orthodox abstain from meat and dairy EVERY Friday and EVERY Wednesday with the exceptions of the weeks following Christmas, Pascha, and Pentecost, and the third week prior to the beginning of Great Lent.

The same fasting discipline is kept for the 40 day Nativity Fast (November 15 - December 24); the Lenten Fast; the Apostles’ Fast (variable length, ending on June 29); and the Dormition Fast (August 1 - 14).

The purpose of fasting is the subduing of the passions, and, chief among them, the bridling of the tongue. By being very conscious of what enters our mouths we hope to become more conscious and cautious about what emerges from our mouths, in the spirit of the vesperal Psalm “set a watch O Lord before my mouth, and guard the door of my lips”.

[oldplayer]

I’m Methodist. A few years ago I decided to have meatless Fridays during Lent. It was an interesting experience. I continued it and now have had meatless Fridays all year round for the past four years. It has made me a better Christian, not because it is any big sacrifice in our modern society to not have meat, but it makes me think about my life and my Lord in a different way one day a week.

It has been worthwhile.

Oldplayer

[Salvation]

God bless you!

[yarddog]

When I was a kid the lunchroom always served fish on Fridays.

No one really cared. I doubt there were more than 4 or 5 Catholics in the entire school.

Of course Catholics don’t go around murdering and raping anyone who is not Catholic.

[Biggirl]

There is also fasting besides from foods.

[xrmusn]

No one really cared. I doubt there were more than 4 or 5 Catholics in the entire school.
= = = = = = = = = = =
I went to Parochial School through 9th grade and got a full credit for Religion, Latin I was considered my ‘language’ for my entire HS adventure.

I went to Public School my Soph year and we were given at least one period of religion a week - left school and went to the local Catholic Church - believe got 1/2 credit for that.

I was so far ‘ahead of my peers’ that I was able to take typing my Junior year, and held a full time night job.

This was in NY State and my mother moved us to CA in my Senior year and they claimed I needed two more credits than I would have had - that was the bump I needed to go to school on my 17th Birthday, quit school and join the Navy.

I (sort of) remember in Catholic School we rode the County School bus to school - had to get to their stop and our school was midway between the HS and Grammar School.

County ‘threatened’ to discontinue hauling our young arses around and the ‘rumor’ started that the students now using the bus would be going to Public School in short time.
County made an ‘emergency’ decision to continue hauling us.

Money powers EVERYTHING

[yarddog]

My home town has a single small Catholic Church. St. Margaret of Scotland Church.

The entire county was settled by Highland Scots. They were all Presbyterians. My Father did complain once that the First Presbyterian Church was built on city property in the lake yard but again no one really cared.

I can only recall one girl in my class who was Catholic and she was Polish. She was very quiet and studious. She won an award for her knowledge of American History given out by the Woodmen of the World.

Back then, everyone sort of thought you could be whatever you wanted. They had never seen a Muslim tho.

[Marcella]

So, there is this long article on here about fasting on ALL Fridays and Lent.

I have the latest “Catechism Of The Catholic Church”. If one can lift it due to it being so big/heavy, answers abound there if one knows how to use it.

Look in the back and find listed whatever you want to know about. Let’s use “baptism” for instance. You will be directed to the pages having to do with baptism. I think people read that and quit.

They don’t follow through to look at the footnotes that direct you to the exact scripture(s) in the Bible that is the bedrock for the method of baptism used in the Catholic Church.

All Catholic “rules/laws” have their start in scripture and that scripture is notated in the footnote of every “rule/law”.

My opinion is, if people would go to the source book of “rules/laws”, “The Catechism Of The Catholic Church”, and read the scripture defining a rule/law, many long articles arguing one way or the other about a rule/law, would not be necessary.

Divine Law, church rule - scripture by any other name is still scripture and that is where truth is.

This is Friday and we had flounder fish for dinner. It is a way to remind us of Jesus Christ as is every other Catholic law/rule we observe.

[Salvation]

The first of seven pages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

http://ccc.scborromeo.org.master.com/texis/master/search/?sufs=0&q=fasting&xsubmit=Search&s=SS

[Marcella]

“The first of seven pages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

And there is a footnote number at the end of each entry. Look at the bottom of that page for that number and there is the scripture to look up that documents the validity of the assertion of that rule/law. I saw some scripture quoted in some of those but not where it is in the Bible. The footnote gives that information.

Regarding fasting: We are 81 and 83 years of age and we eat less on a fast day. A real fast would likely find us on the floor unconscious. Besides, we take so much medicine we have to eat before we take the bucket of pills we have to take. If we travel to stay overnight somewhere, it takes a day just to load the medicine in the car. :o)

[Salvation]

You are definitely over the ages limit. LOL and blessings to you.