St. Peter Chrysologus
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Deacon Robert Banet
I wish you would stop bringing up that business of no meat on Friday. Don’t you know that has been done away with? Ever hear of Vatican II?
So you say. But what does the Church say?
Well, you never hear anybody, any priest talk about it. That’s good enough for me.
Let’s look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That’s always a good resource. And by the way, it was written after Vatican II. Let’s see what it says. Ah, here it is. It says, “You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.”
Well, that doesn’t say anything about Friday.
You’re right. But there’s a footnote. It refers you to Canon Law.
Argh!
Canon 1251 says, “Abstinence… is to be observed on all Fridays.”
What? Where does it say that?
You can read it for yourself. But then it refers to another canon, which says, “Episcopal conferences…can substitute…other forms of penance.”
Did the American bishops do that?
Frankly, I don’t know. So to be safe, I observe the abstinence and occasionally substitute some other penance. The whole idea is to remind us of what happened on a
certain Friday long ago.
You mean Good Friday?
Yes. The day Jesus died on
the cross and opened the gates of Heaven. We need to be reminded of that and to be eternally grateful. Abstinence is a good way to do it.
I believe you’re right. OK, from now on I’ll follow your advice. You’ve set me straight.
Good thinking.