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During Lent, Catholics in the
United States abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of
the season. They fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. They are encouraged
to continue the fast on Holy Saturday as well, in union with those preparing
for baptism. On a fast day, people eat only one full meal; they may also eat
two partial meals and should not snack between any of them.
Everyone age 14 and older is
bound by the law of abstinence. Younger children are to be educated in its
significance. Other Catholics are expected to avoid meat on Ash Wednesday
and the Fridays of Lent no matter how old they become. However, fasting
binds from after one’s 18th birthday until after the 59th. Catholics younger
and older than that need not fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Nonetheless, fasting is a praiseworthy penitential practice, even when it is
not required.
Throughout the year Catholics
fast from food and drink one hour before sharing communion.
The laws of fast and
abstinence may vary from one country to another; however, they accomplish
the same goals.
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They help us imitate the
example of Jesus, who fasted 40 days to prepare for his ministry.
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They help us display our
common repentance. More than declaring our personal desire for conversion
of heart, they strengthen our community by expressing our corporate sorrow
for social sin. |
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They teach us a detachment
from passions and turn our hearts more toward God and less toward food.
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They make us more
disciplined and more charitable. |
The purpose of fast and
abstinence, then, is not to punish us but to make us more loving, more
prayerful, more detached from whatever may keep us from God.
Fasting becomes more
spiritually effective when sustained by other practices such as prayer,
charity, and almsgiving. The prayers at Mass during Lent presume that the
community is supporting its prayer with fasting and its fasting with prayer.
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