Eating meat on Friday Mortal Sin?

[Canadian75]

So is eating meat on the Fridays of Lent a mortal sin, venial sin, or just an optional discipline?

 

[JJM]

I'm not positive but I'd say it is a mortal sin because to not do it breaks the 4th comandment. However it is possible that the church doesn't veiw it as a grave disobediance so someone who knows more than I do will have to varify that.

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

All other conditions being met (full freedom, full knowledge)- eatinfg meat on Fridays during Lent is mmortal sin- because it breaks a Chief Law of the Church- the one that tells us we must obey the rules of fast and abstinence. All Six Chief Precepts of the Church are grave matter..

 

[Dream]

After reading Shannon's post, I retract my statement.

 

[jukesk9]

Oh good night it is not a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday. Do your best to obey the precepts of the Church but if you fail in this area, suck it up, ask God to forgive you and drive on.

 

[Canadian75]

If it is a sin of a grave nature, I wouldn't mind some references. I cannot find any. I also have been told that one could do some act of charity instead of abstaining from meat.

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

If it is a sin of a grave nature, I wouldn't mind some references. I cannot find any. I also have been told that one could do some act of charity instead of abstaining from meat.

Not during Lent- All Fridays of the year outside of Lent one is supposed to abstain from eating meat or do some other act of penance. However, during Lent it is absolutely no meat of Fridays and Ash Wednesday...

Maybe someone else can provide a link to the CCC???

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

Oh good night it is not a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday. Do your best to obey the precepts of the Church but if you fail in this area, suck it up, ask God to forgive you and drive on.

It is not a mortal sin if you slip up and forget that you oughtn't eat meat--- but if you freely choose, and have full knowledge-- breaking a Chief Law of the Church is absolutely, positively mortal sin...

One of the Six is obeying the days of Fast and Abstinence set forth by the Church....and I mean come on- it's like 7 days a year with no meat- how bloody hard is that??

 

[Canadian75]

It's not like abstaining from meat is particularly hard (could just have a salmon steak I suppose). But, I have my sister-in-law, her fiancee and kids coming for dinner and they're planning on bringing KFC for dinner. Now it could be a pain to find another dish to eat, and I'm the only Catholic (except my kids, but they're too young to worry about it). Just didn't wanna burn in hell for eating the Colonel's special.

 

[Filia Mariae]

and I mean come on- it's like 7 days a year with no meat- how bloody hard is that??

 

[Rising_Suns]

One of the Six is obeying the days of Fast and Abstinence set forth by the Church....and I mean come on- it's like 7 days a year with no meat- how bloody hard is that??

Plus the Church's precepts on fasting has been reduced alot, just to put things into perspective. The strictest adherents are only still upheld in the monastic life.

 

[Dream]

It's not like abstaining from meat is particularly hard (could just have a salmon steak I suppose). But, I have my sister-in-law, her fiancee and kids coming for dinner and they're planning on bringing KFC for dinner. Now it could be a pain to find another dish to eat, and I'm the only Catholic (except my kids, but they're too young to worry about it). Just didn't wanna burn in hell for eating the Colonel's special.

It's not always easy being Catholic, but we must respect the rules of discipline that the Church sets up.

 

[Paul S]

Oh good night it is not a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday. Do your best to obey the precepts of the Church but if you fail in this area, suck it up, ask God to forgive you and drive on.

The sin is not the meat itself, but disobeying the Church. Remember, whatever the Church binds on earth is bound in heaven, so eating meat on Fridays knowing the Church says not to is really the same sin that got us in this whole mess in the first place - "Thou shalt not eat of that tree."

 

[indigo tree]

I cannot possibly see how eating a chicken leg on a Friday during lent can be classified in the same way as mowing down ten people on the street in your hummer. It just doesn't scream "damnation" to me. How can a manmade law be made into a sin? Granted, I do believe that abstaining is a good thing to do, but I just can't see how not doing it is terrible.

 

[Paul S]

I cannot possibly see how eating a chicken leg on a Friday during lent can be classified in the same way as mowing down ten people on the street in your hummer. It just doesn't scream "damnation" to me. How can a manmade law be made into a sin? Granted, I do believe that abstaining is a good thing to do, but I just can't see how not doing it is terrible.

Was it a huge deal for Adam and Eve to eat some fruit?

Not all mortal sins are equally evil, but they all send the sinner to hell. Skipping Mass isn't as bad as murdering someone, but it's still a mortal sin.

Abstinence from meat may be a manmade law, but it's backed up with the authority of God. "And I say to you, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

I cannot possibly see how eating a chicken leg on a Friday during lent can be classified in the same way as mowing down ten people on the street in your hummer. It just doesn't scream "damnation" to me. How can a manmade law be made into a sin? Granted, I do believe that abstaining is a good thing to do, but I just can't see how not doing it is terrible.

Because this is one of the Precepts of the Church, which is the bare minimum that we must do in order to be faithful Catholics. Everything in the Precepts involves grave matter- so to deny one of the Precepts with full knowledge and full consent constitutes a mortal sin. This is because the authority of the Church comes directly from Jesus and these Precepts are the backbone for the faithful to attain salvation. Do you know what the Precepts are?? If not I'll be happy to post them- I think far too few Catholics even know that they exist! (Let alone are bound by them!)

 

[jukesk9]

It is not a mortal sin if you slip up and forget that you oughtn't eat meat--- but if you freely choose, and have full knowledge-- breaking a Chief Law of the Church is absolutely, positively mortal sin...

One of the Six is obeying the days of Fast and Abstinence set forth by the Church....and I mean come on- it's like 7 days a year with no meat- how bloody hard is that??

I'm not saying it's hard. I abide by the laws and precepts of the Church. I'm tired of people coming on this board and labeling every little thing people do as a mortal sin. It's ridiculous. We're lay people not theologians for crying out loud. And since it's a discipline (which the Church can bind and loose), if memory serves me correct, I believe Vatican II lifted the pain of mortal sin on matters such as these:

Q. Has it ever been a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday? Is it considered a mortal sin at this date to eat meat on Friday? At what point in history was the doctrine of abstinence from meat established? K. W. W., Searcy, Ark.

A. Yes, deliberate eating of more than two ounces of flesh meat was a grave matter and a mortal sin. (Fr. Davis, S.J.— Precepts, Moral & Pastoral Theology, p. 437.) No, it is not considered a mortal sin at this date. However, some Novus Ordo priests still say it might be a, mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays of Lent and Ash Wednesday. Abstinence from certain meat dates back to at least 1200 B.C. because Moses wrote of it in Levit XVI 29ff. St. Thomas, in the 13th century, considered it in the Summa. Clement of Alexandria did so in the 3rd century. Certainly a custom of such great antiquity should not be lightly handled. Conceivably several souls are in hell because of the mortal sin of eating meat on Friday. Shouldn't they have another chance in our Conciliar Church?
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http://www.sspx.ca/Angelus/1978_May/Ask_Me.htm

Why do we fast on Fridays during Lent? We avoid the flesh to remember the Passion of Our Lord and Savior. It's a matter of saying, "Thank you Jesus for dying for me. I offer this personal sacrifice."

I think folks oughtta worry about their own souls, ie removing the log from their own eye before taking out the speck from another's. I'm not advocating disobeying the Church and thumbin' your nose at Her by eating meat on Fridays during Lent. But if you do that, make an Act of Contrition and go talk to your priest.

 

[jukesk9]

I cannot possibly see how eating a chicken leg on a Friday during lent can be classified in the same way as mowing down ten people on the street in your hummer. It just doesn't scream "damnation" to me. How can a manmade law be made into a sin? Granted, I do believe that abstaining is a good thing to do, but I just can't see how not doing it is terrible.

I concur...

 

[jukesk9]

and these Precepts are the backbone for the faithful to attain salvation.

No, they are not. Salvation comes through Christ, not the Church. It is not something we earn. That is clearly outlined in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Catechism. The precepts exist to help us stay faithful to the Gospel.

169 Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation." Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.

 

[InnerPhyre]

As has been said, if you forget and eat meat, then it's obviously not a mortal sin. But why would you intentionally eat meat on friday and break your fast?