Every Lent reminds me of my one long standing disagreement with the Catholic Church. It has been one that has existed for me basically since I attained the age of reason. While I have had doubts and questions about some Church teachings and practices all those have been resolved with me understanding the Church’s point of view on the matter. However, this one is different. Not only do I still disagree with the Church, it has grown more intense over the years as I begin to understand ever more clearly as to why I disagree with Holy Mother Church. I also realize that being on the other side of Holy Mother Church puts me at odds with thousands of years of tradition and probably millions and maybe even tens of millions of saints who zealously followed this Church precept. Nevertheless I must state my case.
My Beef with the Church’s Beef Ban
My beef with the Church is her beef with beef and other flesh meat being off limits for Catholics during the Fridays of Lent as well as Ash Wednesday. I get the reasoning behind it. Meat is generally an appetizing food and we should not eat for the sake of pleasure. Plus it is an observance everyone can participate in and in this way can foster a shared identity as Catholics.
However, the abstinence from meat precept actually puts the cart before the horse. It teaches us that eating is not for pleasure and that there is a social dimension to our eating. What it fails to do is tell a Catholic why they eat in the first place. The current precept of the Church does absolutely nothing to communicate that eating is for the sake of nutrition. Animal flesh is an extremely nutritious food. It should not be avoided. The body and the soul to which it is united is not developed by avoiding nutritious food. Jesus Christ himself found it fitting to nourish his own flock with his own flesh and blood. To accomplish this He transformed inferior man made foods like bread and wine into animal based food.
Our Lord gave us animal based nourishment for our souls and we should not avoid such nourishment for our bodies. While the idea of carnivore Fridays for Lent has a certain appeal to me, it would be difficult to implement as a universal precept.
However, a more effective practice to retain the benefits of the current abstinence and more effectively convey the purpose of eating would be to adopt a sugar free Friday instead. It would still very much communicate that eating is not for pleasure and still allow for a distinctive collective behavior. It would also in fact foster more nutritious eating habits as virtually any food that displaces sugar containing foods will be better for bodily health and for the well being of the soul to which it is united.
- Father Athanasius
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