If you haven't already boned up on this, Jimmy Akin has the definitive guide to fasting and abstinence. Among the highlights (that you might not have known):
- "The laws of fast and abstinence do not bind those who have a medical condition that would materially interfere with their performance."
- "Beverages, even calorie-laden beverages (milk, OJ, coffee with cream, protein shakes) do not violate the law of fast. "Food" means solids food, not drinks (which count as 'drink'), though disproportionate consumption of caloric beverages violates the spirit of the fast."
- "Non-nutritive or non-digestible things taken to curb hunger (e.g., water, dietary fiber) do not violate the law of fast." . . . "The fast is from food (solid nourishment; technically, solid macronutrients), not other things (water, other beverages, fiber, medicine, vitamins)."
- The old saying, "You can have one full meal plus two smaller meals as long as they do not add up to a second meal" is FALSE. "The law says that you can have 'some food' twice, and 'some food' is clearly less than a 'full meal,' but it doesn't say anything about how much the two instances of "some food" add up to." . . . "A more helpful way of thinking of it (and a way more in keeping with the way the law is written) is to think of one full meal and two snacks, a snack being something less than a meal."
13 comments:
Well isn't this post serendipitous!
I just had finished my second meal of Lent 2007 and was musing to self as to whether breakfast (2 pancakes, some crushed pineapple and light syrup) was greater than, equal or less than my cheese sandwich w/onions & tomato and a plum for lunch and how those meals would be placed into the traditional formula once I ingest my soup supper at the Basilica.
B + Soup = < L
or
L + Soup = < B
or
(B or L) + Soup Must Be < (L or B)
Might I have to limit myself to two tablespoons of soup to avoid exceeding the forumlaic limits?
Thanks, Mitchell, I think I can rationalize my way out of this one after reading your explanation of the dietary laws.
Or maybe if I eat a quart of soup tonight with lots of crackers, staying shy of the Gluttony Limits, I might be OK.
Ok, I WAS going to update my post on my Lenten Soup supper plug and apologize to everyone for bringing up food on a fasting day but since Ray is throwing food around (and appears to have lost his mind) why bother?
Ray, I think I remember seeing your equation once on College Bowl. :-)
Speaking of bowls, only a couple more hours and I'll be ready for that bowl of mac and cheese at Noodles.
Cathy - I can't argue with a thing you've said!
Mitchell
OK, I no longer feel guilty about what I've eaten today. I ate a banana for breakfast, which I was going to skip entirely. But I had a busy, active morning so needed some kind of "fuel". Lunch was a small container of Pad Thai noodles (from the store - about 1 cup, I think).
Dinner...well, not until after Mass, and Confession, if they have it tonight, so not until about 8:30, I think.
And I was just wondering if I'd eaten too much?
I'm not very good at fasting.
~ Adoro
Mitchell:
Is there a place to get good Mac and Cheese around here?
My Mom wasn't a gourmet cook by any stretch of the imagination but when it came
to "comfort food", I've found nobody to top her.
And Mac & Cheese would be near the top of that list.
I was just musing that we never really requested specials from Mom. We just
ate what was put on our plates. We might have been allowed to ask (within
reason) for special dishes or favorite cake on our birthdays.
But when I came back from the Army after four years, one of the first things
she asked of me was "what would you like for supper tonight?"
Now I'd been out in the world and had a lot of good meals, and contrary to the
reputation, I never had a bad meal in the Army and some very good ones too.
But without hesitation, answering a question I had never thought about, I asked
Mom for a "stringy pot roast." Comfort food! My second choice would probably have been either her "corn" hot dish or her "Italian Spaghetti."
I think that pleased her very much.
Criminently, Adoro.
For a guy used to eating the "large economy sized" portions, I thought I was being somewhat moderate so far today.
And Mitchell gave me the legal authorization to pat myself on the back.
But now I'm not so sure. I have all these Pharisee pals who have painted their faces gray and have on their Ragstock sackcloth outfits.
I may have to skip the crackers with my half cup of soup at church tonight.
Actually, I'm dressed nicely (well, for what I do, anyway), haven't recieved my ashes, and no one other than other observant Catholics knows about my fast...which might get wrecked anyway, when I get home. I'm hungry! And I have food in my fridge calling to me....
And actually, how do you know I didn't just lie about what I said I did or didn't eat earlier? Hmmmmm????? :-)
LOL
~ Adoro aka "Leviticus" (new nickname thaks to Fr. W.)
"Leviticus:"
Does that "nom de blog" have something to do with an obsession with commandments, covenants and canon law?
I must confess now to the venial sin of envy of bloggers like Gerald and Amy and Jimmy and the like who regularly get 75 comments for their sometimes uninspiring posts.
It appears that if I blog more on food, especially on Ember Days and others requiring fast and abstinence, I should have no trouble cracking 100 comments to my pithy posts.
Well you could have lied, Leviticus, but you might have one of the Ragstock special hairshirts on too.
OK, I have now recieved my ashes, but I'm home so no one knows about it. I was going to go to the 7 pm Mass, but I wanted to get home to study. Right now, this is "pre-studying", while I heat up my dinner. Food at last!
Actually, my only problem lately is that in general, I haven't been eating very much. I hate my job so much, esp. with my new micro-manager boss that I can't eat anything. Seriously...no appetite. So today I just had no real appetite and he wasn't even there!
I need to eat something tonight. Those pancakes you described sounded really good!
Yeah! We should definitely talk about food more often1
And "Leviticus", actually that referrs to my undergrad degree: Criminal Justice. Fr. W. decided to call me "Leviticus", but the scary thing is that it tends to be a little too appropriate for me as a nick name.
Oh, and I don't have a hairshirt; Fr. H once told we the young adult group that if we're even considering it, to come talk to him (implying that he would say NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT! LOL. Thankfully, I haven't even been tempted to wear such a beastly thing!
What does one do when she is allergic to seafood. And everyone else around her is having salmon steak for their one meal and she is having an egg.
Somehow they don't seem to be fasting as much as she is.
Puff,
Well, it could be that they don't understand the point of giving up meat; you may be called upon to educate them. And don't let their percieved "failure" affect you; you can only be responsible for yourself and your own observance.
Ray,
Noodles & Company has the best mac and cheese around. They also have a nice buttered noodles dish. By all means check them out!
Puff,
My wife is allergic to shellfish (and her being from Maine, too) so we go through the same kind of thing on Fridays. Lots of mac and cheese, pasta tossed with different herbs, pancakes, cheese pizza, veggie burgers, waffles, spaghetti with tomato sauce, pasta aflredo, etc. It's amazing how creative you can be 52 times a year when you have to!
Mitchell
Post a Comment