The Church asked Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent in memory of Good Friday, the day the Bible says Jesus died on the cross, Riviere said. Meat was chosen as a sacrifice because it was a celebratory food.
“All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence” (Canon 1252). The U. S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) extended this law to include all Fridays in Lent. Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays.
Abstinence from meat on Fridays is done as a sacrifice by many Christians because they believe that on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his flesh for humanity. In Orthodox Christianity, in addition to fasting from food until sundown, the faithful are enjoined to abstain from sexual relations on Fridays as well.
"Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays," the Archdiocese said. Johnston adds refraining from eating meat is a form of penance – admitting to any wrongdoings and sins while turning back to belief in God.
In 866 A.D., Pope Nicholas I made Friday abstinence from meat a universal rule of the church. By the 12th century, abstinence and fasting on Friday, for penance as well as in memorial of Christ's Passion, were common practices. Most Catholics were bound by the rules, even children as young as 12.
Let's start with a quick lesson in theology: According to Christian teaching, Jesus died on a Friday, and his death redeemed a sinful world. People have written of fasting on Friday to commemorate this sacrifice as early as the first century.
For centuries, Catholics were bound to abstain from meat on Fridays, the day that Christ was crucified and the fifth day of creation when God made the animals. Then, in 1966, the Second Vatican Council relaxed the law to the point where Catholics were virtually freed from the obligation.
Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.
Lent in the New Testament
Today, Lent is connected with the 40-day fast that Jesus undergoes (Mark 1:13; Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13).
Here's why: meat was at one point considered an indulgence, so abstaining from meat on certain days is intended as a form of penance and a way for Christians to honor Jesus' sacrifice of his flesh on Good Friday. That means no meat from birds, cows, sheep, or pigs.
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
“Each Friday during Lent is actually referred to as Days of Penance,” the 33-year-old said. “If someone unintentionally eats meat by accident without willfully knowing they've done wrong, it's not a sin. I usually suggest they make sure to sacrifice something else in its place to make up for eating meat.”
Chicken: Chicken meat is high and protein and low in fat, which varies in white and dark meat. Boneless, skinless chicken breast meat is one of the only types of meat that doesn't contain saturated fat. A roasted chicken is one of life's simplest pleasures.
Fish, Fridays & Lent
It simply meant abstaining from eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals—since the thinking goes, Jesus was a warm-blooded animal. Fish, though, which are cold blooded were considered okay to eat on fasting days.
Lent is observed in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, United Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions of Christianity.
“Catholic teachings tell us to refrain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance," Sheila Wolf LeBouef wrote. "Friday is a day of penitence, as it is believed Christ died on a Friday. Everyone has the right to either eat meat or not.
Lent is a period of 40 days during which Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.
It has to be noted that Church law altered in 1966 from forbidding flesh meat on every Friday of the year to only forbidding it on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday in Lent (including Good Friday). Fish is often used as a substitute for meat-based meals.
For Lent, the Church gives us almost a slogan—Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving—as the three things we need to work on during the season.
The Practice Began in the Early Days of the Church
In the early years of Christianity in Europe, the Church instituted the practice of requiring the faithful to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in memory of Christ's death.
In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, abstinence laws say meat is considered something that comes only from animals that live on land, like chicken, cows, sheep or pigs. Fish are considered a different category of animal.