Why do Catholics eat fish on Friday?Christians have fasted (gone without food) and abstained (gone without certain foods, especially meat) since the beginning. The Book of Genesis Noun 1. Book of Genesis - the first book of the Old Testament: tells of Creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers Genesis teaches that all the plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. that God created and entrusted to human beings are good, especially those given to us as food (Genesis 1:29). Jesus taught that nothing that a person eats makes him or her evil (Mark 7:18). So why then do Christians fast and abstain? When the devil tempts Jesus in the desert with a comfortable life and a full stomach, Jesus recalls the wisdom of Deuteronomy: "One does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (8:3). Fasting and abstaining makes this real. It also hones our appetite, training us for the basic stance of a baptized bap·tize v. bap·tized, bap·tiz·ing, bap·tiz·es v.tr. 1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism. 2. a. To cleanse or purify. b. To initiate. 3. person in this world: gratitude. Doesn't something taste better once you've truly hungered for it? Aren't we more grateful for what we've hungered and thirsted for? Jesus recommended fasting, but not as a mere formality--and certainly not as a burden to be imposed on the poor who have to eat when they can, even if in violation of religious tradition. Instead Jesus recommended fasting when one fails to sense that God is near. What then is the significance of abstaining from meat? And why eat fish? The tradition suggests a number of reasons. Some say that forgoing meat was forgoing a luxury, as meat was relatively rare for most people. This certainly would have been true in the ancient Mediterranean world in late winter-our time of Lent. Today this hardly seems true, since seafood is the luxury and hamburger costs pennies. And besides, the tradition is to abstain from abstain from verb refrain from, avoid, decline, give up, stop, refuse, cease, do without, shun, renounce, eschew, leave off, keep from, forgo, withhold from, forbear, desist from, deny yourself, kick ( meat, not necessarily to eat fish. Eating vegetables suffices. The practice of eating fish is related to the day we typically abstain from meat: Friday. This is the day that Christ died, so abstaining from the shedding (and consuming) of blood seems appropriate. Friday, the sixth day, was also the day that God created animals, so abstaining from meat is a symbolic "stay of execution" for cows, pigs, and sheep--just as the cross saves us from eternal death. The Hebrew scriptures Hebrew Scriptures pl.n. Bible The Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, forming the covenant between God and the Jewish people that is the foundation and Bible of Judaism while constituting for Christians the Old Testament. also tell of Leviathan leviathan (lēvī`əthən), in the Bible, aquatic monster, presumably the crocodile, the whale, or a dragon. It was a symbol of evil to be ultimately defeated by the power of good. , a primordial gigantic enigmatic sea-creature (think Jonah's whale) that represents death. So carving up and eating Leviathan on the day that Christ killed death makes great sense to the biblical imagination. Because of Christ's victory, the great monster death is now nothing more than fish sticks on your plate! Think of that next time you skip that Friday hamburger for a tuna fish sandwich. By DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. PHILIPPART, director of liturgy at St. Nicholas Parish in Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city on Lake Michigan in Cook County, Illinois directly north of Chicago, east of Skokie, and south of Wilmette. The city was first settled in 1836, and has a total population of 74,239[1]. Evanston is part of Chicago's affluent North Shore region. . 
I am someone who prefers to eat vegetarian most of the time. One reason I am not absolutely strict is that some absolutely strict vegetarians are self-righteous and obnoxious.<br><br>"Getting revenge" on a living sea creature by exulting that it has been killed and turned into fish sticks leaves me repulsed and unhappy. It seems utterly bereft and devoid of any kindness or compassion that Christians like to claim having. <br><br>Since fifth grade, when I learned that my Catholic friend couldn't eat meat, I have always been puzzled by refraining from killing one animal by substituting killing another. <br><br>It is even more apropos of fish kills, loss of habitat, and sea life dying. |
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