Fish Eaters

There was a time when Catholics were known as the fish eaters because we ate fish every Friday. Why did Catholics always eat fish on Fridays? There is many a myth and conspiracy behind this but the truth is quite simple.

Christ was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. Good Friday is a holy day of obligation for Catholics where they are required to fast and abstain. We are allowed only one full meal on that day and we are not allowed to eat meat. The nitty-gritty detail is that we cannot eat the flesh of a warm blooded animal. Fish are not warm blooded therefore they are ok to eat. Bugs and reptiles are also not warm blooded so they are always an option but, short of John the Baptist, not many people like eating bugs or reptiles. Fish it is then for Catholics.

To a Catholic, every Friday is Good Friday and every Sunday is Easter. We are called to do special penance on every Friday. The Church is called to be united in this penance and the penance the Church chose was abstinence. Catholics are required not to eat meat on Fridays.

But that requirement has been lifted and we can now eat meat on Fridays, right?

The Second Vatican Council simplified many of our Catholic laws and customs. It was recognized that there was an over emphasis on sin and sacrifice to the point it was bordering superstition. Many of the practices were rather involved and ridged and many people believed that breaking the Friday abstinence was a mortal sin that would lead you to hell when abstinence is really a pious act directing your heart to God. The requirement of abstinence on Fridays was changed to a requirement of doing penance on Fridays.

The unified penance we are supposed to do on Fridays is to sustain from eating meat whenever possible. If someone forgets and has bacon at breakfast or finds themselves in a situation where eating meat is prudent then that person has the ability to do some other additional form of penance instead. Of course people hear what they choose to so when the Church said that people no were longer required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays the part about doing another form of penance was drowned out by the cheers of the people. Today many Catholics believe they have no requirements they are obligated to observe on Fridays.

So does that mean that Catholics are no longer fish eaters? Like Peter, let us put our nets down into the deep and see what we come up with. The Greek name for fish (the New Testament was written in Greek) is Ichthys or ΙΧΘΥΣ. Ichthys is an acronym that stands for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.

·         Iota (i) is the first letter of Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for "Jesus".

·         Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστός), Greek for "anointed" (of the Lord).

·         Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), Greek for "God's", the genitive singular of Θεóς, Theos, Greek for "God".

·         Upsilon (y or u) is the first letter of (h)yios (Yἱός), Greek for "Son".

·         Sigma (s) is the first letter of sōtēr (Σωτήρ), Greek for "Savior".

Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus and that we eat his body and blood when we receive the Eucharist. We eat Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, which is the acronym for fish.

Catholics are still the fish eaters, only now instead of getting the name from abstaining from meat on Fridays (which we are still required to do) we are true fish eaters when we receive the Eucharist in Mass.