Yes - it is Friday - during Lent - abstaining today from eating meat - looking for dinner alternatives. It has been sometime now that Catholics were expected to abstain every Friday from eating meat - now the mandate - applies only to Fridays in Lent - other special days of fast - prayer. The idea of fasting - extremely old - even before Christianity began. The idea - replace the act of eating - spending that time in prayer instead. For many - not a problem - others - object quite strenuously. Religions - philosophies that practice fasting include - not limited to - Buddhism - Christianity - Islam - Judaism - Taoism - Jainism - Hinduism. Fasting can last for just a few hours - even a few weeks - usually with practitioners eating at night. Interestingly - even within a religion - different denominations - sects may fast differently - at different times. For example - within Christianity - several different denominations that fast at different times. Catholics - no meat on Fridays during Lent - Coptic Christians - the main form of Christianity in Egypt - fast for different durations for a total of 210 days throughout the year. - Some cultures even fast for non-religious reasons. The town of Geneva, Switzerland - holds the “Jeune genevois” - “Fast of Geneva” - a public holiday - day of fasting in the canton of Geneva occurring in September. The holiday originated in the Middle Ages when some days were officially decided to be fasting days as penitence after calamities such as wars, epidemics, or the plague.
Deacon Dale
