Everyone knows that we as Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, but have you ever wondered why? Why Friday? Why meat? Why can we have fish?
Fasting has become one of the most underrated spiritual practices. By giving up something we enjoy in dedication to God fasting acts as a heartfelt way of saying “sorry” to the Lord. It also helps us grow in self-control so we can avoid sinning in the future, and it even can help those around us become holier.
So what about the mandatory Lenten abstinence from meat? Let’s start with why we refrain from meat on Friday and not some other day of the week.
We know from Scripture that Jesus was crucified on Friday and raised from the dead on Sunday (Jn. 19:31). So, what better day to make some sacrifice and penance than on the same day that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice because of our sins? This probably isn’t surprising so let’s turn to the question of meat.
One simple reason why we give up meat, in particular, is because it’s so delicious. Meat has long been considered one of the best parts of any meal, and that remains true today. But these days fish is sometimes considered more of a delicacy than meat.
In addition to being tasty, meat also calls to mind flesh. It’s a little more of a literalistic understanding of meat than we tend to think, but it’s true. So, on the day when Jesus gave up his flesh for our sake, we abstain from eating meat to honor this sacrifice. So, let’s turn to the last question of fish.
Along with the fact that Jesus ate fish several times in the gospels, the Greek word for fish (ichthys) was an acronym for the Greek expression, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior”. So fish is a symbol for Jesus, his divinity, and his victory over sin and death.
Therefore, whenever we eat fish instead of meat we recall how Christ sacrificed his flesh so we might be saved from sin and united to him and his divinity. Pretty cool!
