Eat, Pray, Love: An Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day Dilemma

[elleng]

'Ah, steak and chocolate, the indulgent mainstays of Valentine’s Day dinners. And exactly the kind of extravagances that observers of Lent, which also starts on Wednesday with Ash Wednesday, are asked to avoid.

The confluence of the events — occurring for the first time since 1945 — has created a dilemma for Roman Catholics and followers of other Christian denominations who observe Ash Wednesday. How can one simultaneously mark a solemn day when foreheads are tapped with a symbol of mortality as a call to humility and repentance, while celebrating one that glorifies the kisses and champagne of romantic love?

Around the country, Roman Catholic bishops have been issuing reminders to parishioners that the holy obligations of Ash Wednesday still apply. They include abstaining from meat and fasting — which Catholics define as eating one normal meal and two small meals that don’t add up to the normal meal in quantity.

“Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only two days of the whole year on which fasting and abstinence are required,” Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo told parishioners in a video posted online Friday. “Those who are accustomed to celebrating Valentine’s Day might do so, perhaps, the day before. Join it up with Mardi Gras!”'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/nyregion/ash-wednesday-valentine-day.html?

[No Vested Interest]

1. Fasting is for those between 14 and 59 years, assuming good health.

I am long past 59 and would enjoy a good seafood dish more than a steak any day.
So bring it on.

I personally believe the abstaining from meat rule is rather archaic, given the availability in the modern world of delicious meat substitutes. However, I do voluntarily abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent- when I remember.

In the (seemingly) distant past, when every Friday was a day of meat abstinence, it was far easier to remember to abstain, as long as one remembered what day of the week it was.

Edited to add: I personally believe that doing positive good is more worthy than abstaining or fasting, and I believe Pope Francis agrees, though I'm sure he does all of the above.