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Karen wrote:

Hi, guys —

On Fridays outside of Lent, I know we should either abstain from meat or do another sort of penance however I have two people in my family that are not Catholic and two that are, but they don't really follow what the Church teaches even when I tell them.

If they eat meat on Fridays, they still don't do any other penance. I have ordered and bought pizza with meat on it on Friday's in the past and they eat as well.

  • Am I cooperating with their sin if I pay for the pizza but they also eat it?

Karen
  { Am I cooperating with their sin by sharing my meat pizza with them on Fridays outside of Lent? }

Mike replied:

Dear Karen,

Thanks for the question.

First, non-Catholic are not bound to follow Catholic customs or disciplines; only Catholics are.

To answer your question, No, you are not cooperating with their sin. What type of substitute penance they perform on Fridays outside of Lent is their choice.

Your culpability stops after you make them aware that some other type of penance should be done on Fridays outside the Lenten Season . . . if they choose not to continue to abstain from meat on Fridays.

This discipline keeps the memory of Jesus' Death on the Cross (on Good Friday) fresh in our Christian minds.

This is not a doctrinal issue.

Mike
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