Last Friday, I had fish for dinner. It was a Friday during Lent, meaning most Catholics observe the meatless Friday rule by having fish on their dinner menu. Fridays during Lent are one of the few times I eat fish. I don’t like fish, never have, and probably never will but it’s Lent, and I eat fish. I’ve learned to tolerate this annual penance, not happily, but I sit at the table and quietly eat what I don’t enjoy. I do it because it helps me live the spirit of the season.
Eating fish on Lenten Fridays helps me remember that this season is a time for me to discover those things that are less tasteful in my life. Lent is a time to reflect and identify the habits, attitudes and behaviors that prevent me from successfully “living Jesus.” Fish Fridays help me remember the practice of Lent and maintain the spirit and focus of this penitential season.
Linguistically, lent is derived from an old English word meaning springtime. In Latin, “lente” means slowly. Lent points to the coming of spring and invites us to slow down our lives to take stock of ourselves. Saint Francis de Sales preached, wrote and advised many on the spirit of Lent and fasting. Here are some of his encouragements for this season.
Saint Francis wrote that “fasting is not a virtue,” but fasting can lead us to virtue. Paraphrasing Francis in his Introduction to the Devout Life, he encourages us to fast with our whole being. If we have offended God through the eyes, ears, tongue and other senses, why should we not also make them fast? The ears, by depriving them of listening to destructive and cynical talk, only to fill the mind with negative and dark images. The tongue, by avoiding judgmental, offensive, gossipy and negative comments or discussions. “We ought also to cut off useless thoughts, vain memories, superfluous appetites and desires of our will.”
Eating fish on Fridays is not going to save my soul. But, as I abstain from meat on Fridays, it reminds me to abstain from actions, behaviors and attitudes that lead me away from Christ. Lent, in a small way, allows us to imitate Christ’s forty days in the desert. It is a time to let ourselves be unprotected, vulnerable and aware of our sinfulness so that we may turn again to the light leading us to God through the mercy of Christ. Lent invites us to stop eating whatever protects us from facing the desert inside us so we can finally give the angels a chance to feed us.
The need for Lent is in all of us. Without this time, we cannot correctly prepare; hearts open, thirsting and ready for the waters of life and the grace of Easter.
So, Eat Fish!
Father Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
