Blessed Ash Wednesday

Why do we practice Fasting and Abstinence?

Here's a quick and simple fact I found from Catholic Link. It is easy to understand.

Fasting consists of having one regular meal during the day. Its main purpose is for us to live in spirit of repentance and turning away from sin and back to God.

What about abstinence? On Fridays, we refrain from eating meat since Jesus sacrificed His flesh for us on Good Friday.

What does abstinence mean?
No meat (Mammals & Fowl)
Fish is OK (SO are amphibians & reptiles)

Why no meat? 🍗🍖
Traditionally, meat was more expensive and eaten only during times of feasting and rejoicing.

Why can we eat fish? 🐠🐟
Fish doesn't belong to the "Flesh meats" as it is a cold blooded animal. The Latin word "caro" from which we get words like carnivore applies to flesh meat and does not include fish.

These are minimum requirements for Lenten sacrifices. All are encouraged to impose some sort of personal penance or act of charity on top of these minimums.

Source: Focus.org, Ewtn.com & Archtoronto.org

Source: Pinterest

Blessed Ash Wednesday ✝️
& Happy Valentine's Day

~Ovie