Lent begins today...
Read this as a follow up on Q&A 81
Q. Where did the whole thing of fasting from meat every Friday come from? Why meat and why Friday?
A. First of all, fasting is a biblical discipline: Christ Himself fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. That should be sufficient reason for any Christian to observe the Lenten fast. But beyond that, Christ expected his disciples to fast (Mt 9:14-15) and issued instructions for how they should do so (Mt 6:16-18). Catholics follow this pattern by fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Abstinence from certain foods is also something biblical. In Daniel 10:2-3 we read, "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks." Catholics use a practice similar to Daniel's when, as a way of commemorating Christ's suffering and Crucifixion - in the flesh - on a Friday, they abstain from eating meat (flesh) on that day of the week during Lent. The only kind of flesh they eat on Friday is fish, which the early Christians used as a symbol of Christ.
Even the Ash Wednesday practice of having one's forehead signed with ashes has a biblical parallel. Putting ashes on one's head was a common biblical expression of mourning. By having the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads, Catholics mourn Christ's suffering on the Cross and their own sins, which made that suffering necessary.
Have an ashful Wednesday!
1st March 2017