Holy Week is an important season for the Catholic religion, since during this solemn period the Paschal Triduum, which refers to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Lent is the time that precedes Holy Week, It is the preparation stage and biblically refers to the 40 days that Jesus was in the desert before being sentenced to death.
For Catholics this is a time of reflection, austerity, abstinence, fasting and prayer.
Biblically Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday. That day, Catholics commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Holy Thursday is celebrated the last supper of Jesus with his disciples, his prayer in the garden and is remembered when he is arrested in Gethsemane. And Good Friday It commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
Eat meat at Easter?
During all Fridays of Lent and Holy Week, Catholics abstain from eating red meat., they celebrate a via crucis and are considered periods of fasting and prayer. But does the Catholic Church prohibit the consumption of red meat? Does the Bible say so?
Fray Juan Carlos Andujar Garces, parish priest of the San Nicolás de Tolentino church, comments that Fasting, offering, abstinence and prayer are practices that help Catholics grow in will and strengthen their relationship with God., giving up something that is meaningful to people, “is like denying myself a luxury to be more supportive of others. It is a gesture that brings me closer to God because I do it out of love for him and brings me closer to my brother because I turn it into an act of solidarity,” she comments.
The Bible as such does not establish that you should not eat red meat. Andujar Garces mentions that this tradition dates back to the feudal era at the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century. “In this age eating meat was very luxurious. Since there was no electricity or refrigeration methods, when killing an animal it had to be consumed or shared and it was a luxury that not everyone might afford, therefore, The community is invited to have that gesture of sobriety and abstinence and stop doing it, looking for a way to eat something more economical. And transform that savings into alms and be in solidarity with the poor,” he comments.
The priest mentions that this fast is not for dieting, since it should be a time of reflection. “With prayer I get closer to God, with fasting I get closer to myself, becoming aware of my hunger and my weakness and asking him – God – for help to be able to fulfill the proposed sacrifice,” he explains.
What days during Easter do you not eat meat?
In general, the days that you should not eat meat are Friday of pain y Holy Friday and the Easter Sunday this limitation ends. “We abstain from eating meat because Christ died on Good Friday and, recognizing his passion and death, we stop consuming meat as if to say ‘I become a participant in the death of Christ, recognizing it,'” comments Andujar Garces.
However, for many Catholics This tradition extends to all Fridays of Lent as a sacrifice to prepare for the journey of Holy Week.
The parish priest comments that “it makes no sense to stop eating meat on a Friday and on Saturday eat the meat that was not eaten on Friday and the meat that was eaten on Saturday. The spiritual meaning would be lost. We Catholics avoid eating meat as a gesture to please God and also get closer to our brother,” he says.
Another belief why eating meat is avoided during this season is that of the ancient Christians where They related red meat to lust and ostentation or a symbol of wealth. So not eating it is synonymous with showing a sacrifice before Jesus.
Some Catholics replace the intake of red meat with fish or shellfish in reference to the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish that Jesus performed. However, for Andujar Garces, “it would be convenient for us to stop eating meat on Fridays, but replace it with something cheaper and transform that saving into alms and solidarity with others, since currently fish is even more expensive than the meat,” he concludes.
#dont #eat #meat #Easter #Catholicism
