The Holy Season of Lent is quickly approaching. Lent is a penitential season which model’s Jesus’ own forty days in the desert where He was tempted by Satan. Jesus prepared Himself for His encounter with Satan by a sustained period of fasting and praying, and thus prepared He triumphed over temptation, and beat back the devil.
We all have our own temptations and devils to face. So, Lent is a time for us to be led by the Holy Spirit to face our temptations and devils. But we are not alone; Jesus walks with us each step of the way.
The Catholic Church in the United States requires all baptized Catholics the following communal acts of penitence. Both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of FAST and ABSTINENCE. To fast means to have only one full meal that day. This requirement is a serious one binding on all Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 (except for reason of sickness). To abstain is the obligation not to eat any meat, and this is required from all Catholic over the age of 14. This does not include eggs, milk products, or condiments.
This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 14 -- Valentine’s Day. I know that this is often a day to take your love one out for dinner. However Ash Wednesday -- as one of only two solemn penitential days that the Church observes -- takes precedence. The Bishop has sent a letter to all the priests stating that NO dispensations can be granted on Ash Wednesday. That means if you are between 18 and 59, if you are going to go out to dinner for a special dinner with your loved one, do not eat any other meals during the day, and order fish or pasta, but no meat (and no chocolates that day).
All other Fridays, especially during Lent, are days of abstinence. Yes, you read that correctly, I said all Fridays throughout the year, and not just during Lent, are days of abstinence. What changed in the 1960s is that Rome stated that instead of Fridays, as a communal day of penance, being observed universally by abstaining from meat, the countries’ bishops conferences could decide what the communal act of penance would be to be observed on Fridays. This was done because in some places in the world having meat to eat is a rare thing, and those places often do not have refrigeration readily available, so to tell people in those areas to not eat meat when they have it just because it was a Friday would be a hardship.
This is not the case here in the United States, and in the 1960s our bishops decided that Catholics here would still abstain from meat on ALL Fridays of the year as our communal penitential act. They did leave what I call a “wiggle clause”: if for good reason you really cannot abstain from meat on Friday you may substitute something else. But I ask you, if you have been enjoying meat on Fridays throughout the year, “What are you doing as a substitute?”
None of this matters during Lent, however. The “wiggle clause” does not apply during Lent; if you are over 14 years old you are to abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent; unless you have a serious illness.