Churchy Things that "Used to Be" II

During Lent I am ranting on sayings about "how things used to be."

Remember when Catholics went to hell if they ate meat on any Friday during the year?  What happened?

For a long time prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Catholic Church held that the primary way to remember that Jesus Christ died for us on Good Friday was to fast from meat every Friday during the year.  In our country this penitential custom and rule defined us Catholics.  After the council, Pope Paul VI wanted to emphasize the voluntary nature of this penitential act, and to make it more than just following authority's rule.  So he reduced the requirements to fast from meat on all Fridays to only Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, which still remains to today.

(I remember one of my moral theology professors in seminary joking about how when he was a teen, his gang of friends would go out on Friday nights, and wait until after midnight to order their hamburgers and milk shakes.  They knew how to get around that Catholic rule.)

What was missed by this reduction in law was the pope's encouragement to continue doing personal and voluntary penitential acts on Fridays, in memory of Jesus' death on Calvary on Good Friday.  The pope back then rightly recognized that for some (like me) fasting from meat was no big deal.  I love eating fish!  So do millions of others.

(An old joke:  The bishop reminds his cook that he has to fast from meat on Friday.  So he instructs her to prepare shrimp cocktail and she-crab soup as appetizers and lobster for the entree.)

But the pope--and the church--wanted us to remember how special Friday is in the church's calendar.  So individuals would have to do something more personal and taxing to carry out a penitential act.

Today each of us is called to perform penitential acts, on Fridays, during Lent, and throughout the year.  Some may carry out "a black fast," that is, no food at all for one day a week.  Some may pray the Stations of the Cross.  Some may volunteer once a month at a senior citizens home or shelter for abused women.  Some may make an annual and substantial gift to Catholic Charities or United Way.  Everyone can do something.  It starts with us recognizing that acts of self-denial, mortification and renunciation are part of following Jesus.  

On every first Sunday of Lent Catholics hear the story of Jesus fasting 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.  Each of us can choose how we will discipline ourselves and our bodies, during Lent and for our lifetime.