The Other Abstinence

It's not the kind you learned about in Sunday School (well, maybe you did). It's definitely not the kind you learned about in health class (if you learned about any kind at all). This kind of abstinence is the spiritual practice of abstaining from meat. The Church gives it to us as a requirement on Fridays during Lent. It is a discipline that, when done in a spirit of charity, brings us closer to Christ.

Keeping regular days of abstinence from meat, especially on Fridays, has been practiced and enforced by the Church from the very beginning. It is so essential for the life of the Church because of its many benefits: it is an act of penance in communion with all of the faithful; it reminds us of the flesh of Christ sacrificed for us; and it helps us to prepare ourselves for the celebration of His resurrection every Sunday.