#170 - No meat? Why?

Why do we not eat meat on Fridays?

In the first century when Jesus lived, people only cooked up “the fatted calf” and ate meat from land animals on days of celebration. Fish was considered a common, everyday food, therefore was not included in the fast. Catholics abstain from meat on the Fridays during Lent to pay homage to and to share in some small way in the suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross on Good Friday; definitively not a day of celebration but rather a day of sorrow. A day when we allow ourselves to feel the full weight of the sadness we all hold about the world we have fashioned in which it is dangerous – and sometimes even fatal – to live as a compassionate, loving human being. Fasting is an essential element of virtually every religion, because we all know the apathy that grows from excess. Fasting is designed to “wake us up” from the numbness that comfort often brings with it – that makes us indifferent to the suffering of others. We fast in an effort to change our world by changing ourselves; to restore and atone for our broken relationships; to keep us mindful of our calling to love as Jesus loved, without counting the cost. Fasting is designed to remind us, when faced with the choice, to make the loving decision. Isn’t that beautiful?

Yes. Yes it is. So beautiful. That makes it all the more humiliating to admit that I spectacularly fail every Lent! Not just a little gaffe here and there. Nope. Not I. I’m more of the “go big or go home” variety of Lenten loser.

One of my goals this Lent was to fast from “being late.” My husband and daughters are always razzing me – saying I have a “bad relationship with time.” They say I’m not very adept at accurately calculating the amount of time that it takes to drive somewhere, pick up a few things from the grocery store, finish up my work and make it home for dinner, etc. I’m always late. Late for doctors visits, late to pick up the kids, late to send in registration forms (even for the programs that I oversee here at the church! More often than not, I’M the delinquent parent paying the late fee!). I always think I can do that “one more thing” and still make it in time…but I never do. So, I announced to my family on Ash Wednesday that I was determined to arrive to all my appointments 15 minutes early and use that extra time for prayer.

ON Ash Wednesday I was late for three appointments. I only had three appointments that day. We are halfway through Lent and my relationship with time is not showing any signs of redemption. Last night I overheard my family snickering with great delight over my abject failure. Please someone…anyone…tell me you can relate?!!?

So now what? Well, we love and serve a God of mercy, miracles, and second-chances, right? So, I’ve decided to be gentle with myself and simply start again. Because, as St. Paul writes “God’s grace is sufficient…God’s power is made perfect in weakness.” If we are called to love as God loves (even ourselves), then we also must believe that God loves us not despite our faults and failures, but rather in and through them God is bringing about the kingdom. That is the message Jesus died to tell us. So, we resume our efforts to draw nearer to God, to invite a sincere metanoia by doing things differently; never losing hope that our struggles to change our behavior, whether we succeed or fail, facilitate a change of heart - not because of our toil and labor but rather because of who God is for us; our tireless cheerleader whose grace abounds everytime! (BTW, I submitted this article a day late. Sigh.)

Send your Crazy Catholic Question to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com