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In addition, the (USCCB) United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has said:
"By letting go of the food
and pleasures we do not really
need, we participate in Christ's
self-emptying in becoming man
and in dying upon the cross," he
said. "We too must empty
ourselves of the non-essentials,
so that we might cling to the
only One we truly need, Christ
Jesus, and Him crucified."
All Catholics are still obliged to
perform some type of penance every
Friday of the year.
(Canon 1250)
I thought James Akin answered the
following questions on Lent very
well, and gave a biblical foundation
when possible. This should answer
your question completely.
Question: What is Lent?
Answer: Historically, Lent is the forty
day period before Easter, excluding
Sundays, it began on Ash Wednesday
and ended on Holy Saturday (the
day before Easter Sunday). In
recent years, this has been modified
so that it now ends with evening
Mass on Holy Thursday, to prepare
the way for Triduum.
Question: Why are Sundays excluded from
the reckoning of the forty days?
Answer: Because Sunday is the day on
which Christ arose, making it
an inappropriate day to fast and
mourn our sins. On Sunday we must
celebrate Christ's Resurrection
for our salvation. It is Friday
on which we commemorate His death
for our sins. The Sundays of the
year are days of celebration and
the Fridays of the year are days
of penance.
Question: Why are the forty days called
Lent?
Answer: They are called Lent because
that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year
during which they fall. This is
something unique to English. In
almost all other languages its
name is a derivative of the Latin
term Quadragesima, or "the
forty days."
Question: Why is Lent forty days
long?
Answer: Because forty days is a traditional
number of discipline, devotion,
and preparation in the Bible.
Thus Moses stayed on the Mountain
of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), the spies were in
the land for forty days (Numbers 13:25), Elijah traveled
forty days before he reached the
cave where he had his vision (1
Kings 19:8), Nineveh was given
forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4),
and most importantly, prior to
undertaking his ministry, Jesus
spent forty days in the wilderness
praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).
Since Lent if a period of prayer
and fasting, it is fitting for
Christians to imitate
their Lord with a forty
day period. Christ used a forty
day period of prayer and fasting
to prepare for His ministry, which
culminated in his death and resurrection,
and thus it is fitting for Christians
to imitate Him with a forty day
period of prayer and fasting to
prepare for the celebration of
his ministry's climax, Good Friday
(the day of the crucifixion) and
Easter Sunday (the day of the
Resurrection).
Thus the Catechism of the Catholic
Church states:
" 'For we have not a high
priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tested
as we are, yet without sinning'
(Hebrews 4:15). By the solemn
forty days of Lent the Church
unites herself each year to the
mystery of Jesus in the desert." (CCC
540).
Question: When does Lent begin?
Answer: Lent begins on Ash Wednesday,
which is the day on which they
faithful have their foreheads
signed with ashes in the form
of a Cross (See the article on Ash Wednesday). It
is also a day of fast and
abstinence.
Question: What is a day of fast and abstinence?
Answer: Under current canon law in
the Western Rite of the Church,
a day of fast is one on which
Catholics who are eighteen to
sixty years old are required to
keep a limited fast. In this country,
one may eat a single, normal meal
and have two snacks, so long as
these snacks do not add up to
a second meal. Children are not
required to fast, but their parents
must ensure they are properly
educated in the spiritual practice
of fasting. Those with medical
conditions requiring a greater
or more regular food intake can
easily be dispensed from the requirement
of fasting by their pastor.
A day of abstinence is a day on
which Catholics fourteen years
or older are required to abstain
from eating meat (under the current
discipline in America, fish, eggs,
milk products, and condiments
or foods made using animal fat
are permitted in the Western Rite
of the Church, though not in the
Eastern Rites.) Again, persons
with special dietary needs can
easily be dispensed by their pastor.
Question: Is there a biblical basis for
abstaining from meat as a sign of
repentance?
Answer: Yes. The book of Daniel states:
"In the third year of Cyrus
king of Persia . . . 'I, Daniel,
mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat
or wine touched my lips; and I
used no lotions at all until the
three weeks were over.'" (Daniel
10:1-3)
Question: Isn't abstaining from meat one
of the "doctrines of demons" Paul
warned about in 1 Timothy 4:1-5?
Answer: Short answer: Not
unless Daniel was practicing a
doctrine of demons.
Answer: Long answer: When
Paul warned of those who "forbid
people to marry and order them
to abstain from certain foods" he
has in mind people with the Manichean
belief that sex is wrong and certain
foods, like meat, are intrinsically
immoral. (Thus the spiritual ideal
for many modern New Agers is a
celibate vegetarian, as in the
Eastern religions.)
We know that Paul has in mind
those who teach sex and certain
foods are intrinsically immoral
because he tells us that these
are "foods which God created
to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and who know
the truth. For everything God
created is good, and nothing is
to be rejected if it is received
with thanksgiving, because it
is consecrated by the word of
God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:3-5).
Sex and all kinds of food are
good things (which is why the
Catholic Church has marriage for
a sacrament and heartily recommends
the practice eating to its members),
and this is precisely why it is
fitting for them to be given up
as part of a spiritual discipline.
Thus Daniel gave up meat (as well
as wine, another symbol of rejoicing)
and Paul endorses the practice
of temporary celibacy to engage
in a special spiritual discipline
of increased prayer (1 Corinthians
7:5). By giving up good things
and denying them to ourselves
we encourage an attitude of humility,
free ourselves from dependence
on them, cultivate the spiritual
discipline of being willing to
make personal sacrifices, and
remind ourselves of the importance
of spiritual goods over earthly
goods.
In fact, if there was an important
enough purpose, Paul recommended
permanently giving up marriage
and meat. Thus he himself was
celibate (1 Corinthians 7:8), he recommended the same for ministers
(2 Timothy 2:3-4), and he recommended
it for the unmarried so they can
devote themselves more fully to
the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-34) unless
doing so would subject them to
great temptations (1 Corinthians 7:9). Similarly,
he recommended giving up meat
permanently if it would prevent
others from sinning (1 Corinthians
8:13).
Thus Paul certainly had nothing
against celibacy or giving up
meat — even on
a permanent basis — so long
as one wasn't saying that these
things are intrinsically evil,
which is what he was condemning
the "doctrines of demons" passage.
Since the Catholic Church only
requires abstinence from meat
on a temporary basis, it clearly
does not regard meat is immoral.
Instead, it regards it as the
giving up of a good thing (which
in less economically developed
regions — including the
whole world until very recently — was
expensive and thus eaten at festive
occasions, making it a sign of
rejoicing) to attain a spiritual
goal.
Question: On what basis does the Church
have the authority to establish days
of fast and abstinence?
Answer: On the authority of Jesus Christ.
Jesus told the leaders of His
Church, "Whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew
16:19, 18:18). The language of
binding and loosing (in part)
was a rabbinic way of referring
to the ability to establish binding halakah or rules of conduct for
the faith community. It is thus
especially appropriate that the
references to binding and loosing
occur in Matthew, the "Jewish
Gospel."
Thus the Jewish Encyclopedia states under:
Binding and Loosing: (Hebrew, asar
ve-hittir) . . . Rabbinical
term for forbidding and permitting.
. .
"The power of binding and
loosing as always claimed by the
Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra
the Pharisees, says Josephus (Wars
of the Jews 1:5:2), 'became the
administrators of all public affairs
so as to be empowered to banish
and readmit whom they pleased,
as well as to loose and to bind.'
. . . The various schools had
the power 'to bind and to loose';
that is, to forbid and to permit (Talmud: Chagigah 3b); and they
could also bind any day by declaring
it a fast-day ( . . . Talmud:
Ta'anit 12a . . . ). This power
and authority, vested in the rabbinical
body of each age of the Sanhedrin,
received its ratification and
final sanction from the celestial
court of justice (Sifra, Emor, 9; Talmud: Makkot 23b).
"In this sense Jesus, when
appointing his disciples to be
his successors, used the familiar
formula (Matthew
16:19, 18:18).
By these words he virtually invested
them with the same authority as
that which he found belonging
to the scribes and Pharisees who
'bind heavy burdens and lay them
on men's shoulders, but will not
move them with one of their fingers';
that is 'loose them,' as they
have the power to do (Matthew
23:2-4). In the same sense the
second epistle of Clement to James
II ('Clementine Homilies,' Introduction
[221 A.D.]), Peter is represented
as having appointed Clement as
his successor, saying: 'I communicate
to him the power of binding and
loosing so that, with respect
to everything which he shall ordain
in the earth, it shall be decreed
in the heavens; for he shall bind
what ought to be bound and loose
what ought to be loosed as knowing
the rule of the Church.'"
(Jewish Encyclopedia 3:215).
Thus Jesus invested the leaders
of this Church with the power
of making halakah for the Christian
community. This includes the setting
of fast days (like Ash Wednesday).
To approach the issue from another
angle, every family has the authority
to establish particular family
devotions for its members. Thus
if the parents decide that the
family will engage in a particular
devotion at a particular time
(say, Bible reading after supper),
it is a sin for the children to
disobey and skip the devotion
for no good reason. In the same
way, the Church as the family
of God has the authority to establish
its own family devotion, and it
is a sin for the members of the
Church to disobey and skip the
devotions for no good reason (though
of course if the person has a
good reason, the Church dispenses
him immediately).
Question: In addition to Ash Wednesday,
are any other days during Lent days
of fast or abstinence?
Answer: Yes. All Fridays during Lent
are days of abstinence. Also,
Good Friday, the day on which
Christ was crucified, is another
day of both fast and abstinence.
All days in Lent are appropriate
for fasting or abstaining, but
canon law does not require fasting
on those days. Such fasting or
abstinence is voluntary, like
a freewill offering.
Question: Why are Fridays during
Lent, days of abstinence.
Answer: This is because Jesus died
for our sins on Friday, making
it an especially appropriate day
of mourning our sins (just as
Sunday, the day on which he rose
for our salvation is an especially
appropriate day to rejoice) by
denying ourselves something we
enjoy. During the rest of the
year Catholics in this country
are permitted to use a different
act of penance on Friday in place
of abstinence, though all Fridays
are days of penance on which we
are required to do something expressing
sorrow for our sins, just as Sundays
are holy days on which we are
required to worship and celebrate
God's great gift of salvation.
Question: Are acts of repentance appropriate
on other days during Lent?
(Canon 1250). "All Fridays
through the year and he time
of Lent are penitential days
and time throughout the universal
Church."
Question: Why are acts of repentance
appropriate at this time of year?
Answer: Because it is the time leading
up to the commemoration of Our
Lord's death for our sins and
the commemoration of his resurrection
for our salvation. It is thus
especially appropriate to mourn
the sins for which he died. Humans
have an innate psychological need
to mourn tragedies, and our sins
are tragedies of the greatest
sort. Due to our fallen nature
humans also have a need to have
set times in which to engage in
behavior (which is why we have
Sundays as a set time to rest
and worship, since we would otherwise
be likely to forget to devote
sufficient time to rest and worship),
it is appropriate to have set
times of repentance. Lent is one
of those set times.
Question: What are appropriate activities
for ordinary days during Lent?
Answer: Giving up something we enjoy
for Lent, doing of physical or
spiritual acts of mercy for others,
prayer, fasting, abstinence, going
to Confession, and other acts
expressing repentance in general.
Question: Is the custom of giving up something
for Lent mandatory?
Answer: No. However, it is a salutary
custom, and parents or caretakers
may choose to require it of their
children to encourage their spiritual
training, which is their prime
responsibility in the raising
of their children.
Question: Since Sundays are not counted
in the forty days of Lent, does the
custom of giving up something apply
to them?
Answer: Customarily, no. However, since
the giving up of something is
voluntary to begin with, there
is no official rule concerning
this aspect of it. Nevertheless,
since Sundays are days of celebration,
it is appropriate to suspend the
Lenten self-denial on them that,
in a spiritual and non-excessive
way, we may celebrate the day
of Our Lord's resurrection so "that
day" and that event may be
contrasted with the rest of the
days of Lent and the rest of the
events of history. This heightened
contrast deepens the spiritual
lessons taught by the rest of
Lent.
Question: Why is giving up something
for Lent such a salutary custom?
Answer: By denying ourselves something
we enjoy, we discipline our wills
so that we are not slaves to our
pleasures. Just as indulging the
pleasure of eating leads to physical
flabbiness and, if this is great
enough, an inability to perform
in physically demanding situations,
indulging in pleasure in general
leads to spiritual flabbiness
and, if this is great enough,
an inability to perform in spiritual
demanding situations, we when
the demands of morality require
us to sacrifice something pleasurable (such as sex before marriage or
not within the confines of marriage)
or endure hardship (such as being
scorned or persecuted for the
faith). By disciplining the will
to refuse pleasures when they
are not sinful, a habit is developed
which allows the will to refuse
pleasures when they are sinful.
There are few better ways to keep
one's priorities straight than
by periodically denying ourselves
things of lesser priority to show
us that they are not necessary
and focus our attention on what
is necessary.
Question: Is the denying of pleasure an
end in itself?
Answer: No. It is a only a means to
an end. By training ourselves
to resist temptations when they
are not sinful, we train ourselves
to reject temptations when they
are sinful. We also express our
sorrow over having failed to resist
sinful temptations in the past.
Question: Is there such a thing as denying
ourselves too many pleasures?
Answer: Most definitely.
First, God
made human life contingent on
certain goods, such as food, and
to refuse to enjoy enough of them
has harmful consequences. For
example, if we do not eat enough
food it can cause physical damage
or (in the extreme, even death).
Just as there is a balance between
eating too much food and not eating
enough food, there is a balance
involved in other goods.
Second, if we do not strike the
right balance and deny ourselves
goods God meant us to have then
it can generate resentment toward
God, which is a spiritual sin
just as much as those of engaging
in excesses of good things. Thus
one can be led into sin either
by excess or by defect in the
enjoyment of good things.
Third, it can decrease our effectiveness
in ministering to others.
Fourth, it can deprive us of the
goods God gave us in order that
we might praise him.
Fifth, it constitutes the sin
of ingratitude by refusing to
enjoy the things God wanted us
to have because he loves us. If
a child refused every gift his
parent gave him, it would displease
the parent, and if we refuse gifts
God has given us, it displeases
God because he loves us and wants
us to have them.
Question: Is that balance the same for all
people?
Answer: No. For example, with the good
of food, people who are by nature
physically larger need more food
than people who are physically
smaller. Similarly, people who
have higher metabolisms or who
do manual labor for a living need
more food than people with slower
metabolisms or who have less active
lifestyles. The same is true with
regard to other goods than food.
The St. Paul speaks of this in
regard to the good of married
life:
"I wish that all were
as I myself am. But each has
his own special gift from God,
one of one kind and one of
another. To the unmarried and
the widows I say that it is
well for them to remain single
as I do. But if they cannot
exercise self-control, they
should marry. For it is better
to marry than to be aflame
with passion." (1 Corinthians 7:7-9).
Thus some are given the gift of
being able to live without the
good of married life in order
that they may pursue greater devotion
to God (1 Corinthians 7:32-34)
or to pursue greater ministry
for others (2 Timothy 2:3-4),
as with priests, monks, and nuns.
God gives these people special
graces to live the life which
they have embraced, just as he
gives special graces to the married
to live the life they have embraced.
Question: Aside from Ash Wednesday, which
begins Lent, what are its principal
events?
Answer: There are a variety of saints'
days which fall during Lent, and
some of these change from year
to year since the dates of Lent
itself change based on when Easter
falls. However, the Sundays during
the Lenten season commemorate
special events in the life of
Our Lord, such as his Transfiguration
and his Triumphal Entrance into
Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, which
begins Holy Week.
Holy week climaxes
with Holy Thursday, on which Christ
celebrated the first Mass, Good
Friday, on which he was Crucified,
and Holy Saturday
— the last day of Lent — during
which Our Lord lay in the Tomb
before his Resurrection on Easter
Sunday, the first day after Lent.
The Spirit has explicitly said that during the last times some will desert the faith and pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from devils, seduced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are branded as though with a red hot iron: they forbid marriage and prohibit foods which God created to be accepted with thanksgiving by all who believe and who know the truth.
St. Paul objects to these prohibitions when they are the outcome of false principles which would regard marriage and certain foods as impure, but he has no objection to abstaining from food and drink when properly understood and based on sound principles.