ASK FATHER: Can we eat meat today, Friday, Feast of the Sacred Heart or must we abstain?

People have asked about Friday abstinence from meat for today, Feast of the Sacred Heart.

Canon 1251 of the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church says:

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Today, 7 June 2024 is…

a) a Friday, in fact a 1st Friday
b) the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and as such
c) a Solemnity (Novus Ordo calendar – 1st Class in the Vetus Ordo), and therefore it is
d) NOT a day for obligatory abstinence from meat, etc.

Some printed trad calendars not withstanding, we go by the Code of Canon Law.  And that’s the Code as it is now, not as it was or as we think it ought to be.

Hence,…

If you want to eat meat today, you can do so with a light heart, even if it goes straight to your left anterior descending.

If you don’t want to eat meat today, you can abstain with a light heart, even if it is vegan.

Obligatory abstinence on such a joyful feast as today is seems contrary to our Catholic identity.

I think I’ll be a “glad trad” today and have a cheeseburger for lunch.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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5 Comments

  1. Kenneth Wolfe says:

    “Obligatory abstinence on such a joyful feast as today is seems contrary to our Catholic identity.”

    There was obligatory abstinence on the feast of the Sacred Heart from its inception until 1966. Mark me down for the Catholic identity and discipline before Vatican II, even if it was a little tough and uncomfortable at times.

  2. ProfessorCover says:

    I have an intellectual, or maybe spiritual problem with your simple argument that this is not a day of obligatory abstinence. I am sure I am in some sense wrong, but if the purpose of a particular solemnity is to perform sacrifices and reparations for “the wicked coldness of men and the contumely with which Thy most loving Heart is everywhere treated,” then abstinence should be part of the celebration.
    According to the daily meditation that appears in Benedictus, written by a French Jesuit, Father Raoul Plus (d. 1958), the revelation to St Mary Margaret was a call to embrace suffering. “If you only knew how our sovereign urges me to love him with a love that will share His life of suffering!” If one is looking for a reason to avoid the minor inconvenience of abstaining from meat on this feast day, one is completely missing the point of the revelation to Mary Margaret who was called to lay prostrate every Thursday night (near midnight) on the ground for one hour to satisfy divine justice by imploring mercy for sinners and mitigate the sadness Our Lord felt when His apostles abandoned him and could not watch with him even one hour.
    Perhaps it would be better for us to rejoice in this opportunity to share in some small way with Our Lord’s suffering. I am not very good at this, so it would good for my salvation if the Church would help rather than hinder the need for us to do this.

  3. Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

    It is not an obligation. Odiosa restringenda et favorabilia amplianda. The laws that place restrictions or obligations are to be interpreted as narrowly as possible (so as to protect the freedom of those to whom they apply), and laws that give advantages and benefits are to be interpreted as widely as possible (to expand people’s freedom).

  4. TheCavalierHatherly says:

    It seems to me that too much emphasis is being placed by the modern types on “blending in,” and while a good deal of emphasis is placed upon “fasting and penance” by the trads, none of them seem to know how to “feast.” The ‘law’ may be about dispensations from penances, but the ‘spirit’ of the thing, in this case the Solemnity, is about, well, something else. A refrain from penances and labours to do ___?

    Worship? Recite poetry in a flower garden? Drink champagne? Engage in philosophical discussion? Have a particularily festive barbecue with friends? It’s not supposed to be “business as usual” on a Solemnity.

  5. Chiara says:

    I hope you enjoyed every bit of your Friday cheeseburger, Father! Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart, and God bless and protect all here!

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