To Eat Meat or not to Eat Meat - That is the Question

“Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you; this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 18:11

Once again, the Feast of St. Patrick has fallen on a Friday during Lent. In the weeks leading up to this feast, Catholics wait in hope for a dispensation from the requirement to abstain from meat on this particular Friday of Lent so that they may celebrate in the usual fashion of consuming corned beef. When those dispensations start coming out, 'holier-than-the-Pope' Catholics start voicing disagreement with their bishops about the dispensation. Like the Pharisee, they want people to know that they will still be abstaining and making the sacrifice of not enjoying all that delicious corned beef.

To eat meat or not eat meat; that is the question. What is the right thing to do? As with all things in our faith, it all comes down to the inclination of the heart.

We fast during Lent to strengthen our wills. When we voluntarily deny ourselves earthly pleasures, we strengthen the spirit’s ability to control the will. The more control we have over our wills, the easier it is for us to resist the temptations of the devil. We abstain from meat on Fridays because the Church offers this to God for the universal penance for sin. We remember the day our Lord died by offering a universal penance for sin by refraining from consuming that which most humans enjoy eating, which is meat. This isn’t a requirement for salvation, but a pious practice of being repentant.

The requirement of abstaining from meat is not limited to just the Lenten season. It is a requirement of all Catholics every Friday of the year. Like with the St. Patrick dispensation, a general dispensation has been given for Fridays that fall outside of the season of lent. Abstaining from meat is what is required but a Catholic can eat meat on a Friday if there is a good reason to do so. Simple desire is not a very good reason to take advantage of the dispensation.

The dispensation on St. Patrick’s Day, as well as every Friday that falls outside of the season of lent, comes with a requirement if you want to make use of the dispensation. If you eat meat on these days you are required to offer some other form of penance in its place. This penance has to be something you normally wouldn’t do. For example, if you pray a Rosary every day you can’t just offer your Friday Rosary as your penance. You need to do something on top of this Rosary. If you don’t pray a daily Rosary, you can offer a Rosary on Friday as your penance.

The problem is, many Catholics like taking advantage of the dispensation without fulfilling the requirements of it. They eat their meat and are either unwilling or unaware that they need to offer some other form of penance. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who think any dispensation from this practice is wrong and should not be given. The bishops differ on the subject. Some give the dispensation, some don’t. Those who are shepherd over discoes with large Irish populations usually lean to granting the dispensation.

There is nothing wrong with practicing abstinence regardless of the dispensation. It is a pious practice and, if your heart urges you to observe it, by all means do so. There is no need to voice disagreement with the bishop who grants a dispensation. There is no need to look down on anyone who takes advantage of the dispensation. In doing either you become like the Pharisee who looked own on the publican.

This is what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to think yourself better than the bishop or the common Catholic because you are making a greater sacrifice for God by observing a practice you are not asked to observe. When you do this, you exalt your own perceived holiness. Like with false humility, when you exalt your own holiness you are not being holy. When you do this you no longer make the sacrifice for God but for yourself.

Likewise, if you take advantage of the dispensation and you don’t offer a difference penance in its place you are using the dispensation as an excuse that takes you away from God and not as something that draws you closer. You are using the dispensation as a way of getting out of an obligation you don’t want to do in the first place.

This is where the inclination of the heart comes in. When we meet our obligations for love of God, they are truly a gift to him. When we meet our obligations just because they are obligations they are still gifts to God but ones that don’t have much love attached to them. When we meet our obligations because we want recognition from others they are no longer gifts to God but to ourselves.

When you do something for someone you love, it is never an obligation. The deeper you love someone the more you want to give to them to show your love for them. Love of God is no different. When someone asks what the bare minimum is that they need to do and still be Catholic they are showing a very shallow love for God. The deeper your love for God the more you want to do. The more you do the deeper that love grows. There is no competition with God and he never wants you to compare the love you have for him to the love someone else is showing him. Only God knows the depth of our hearts and none of us can judge the depth of another’s heart. But that is precisely what the devil wants you to do. He separates you from God by getting you to compare yourself to another in the way the Pharisee compared himself to the publican.

So, on this feast day, if you have been given the dispensation, celebrate and eat your corned beef. Just remember to do an addition penance in its place. If you haven’t been given a dispensation, honor that in love. If you are moved to observe the universal penance of abstinence, do so in a way that no one but God knows you’re doing so. What the Lord sees in private he rewards.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!