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.
