The news agency of the Conference released an official note yesterday that is refreshingly clear and traditional:
Press release - Friday Penance
The Visit of Pope Benedict XVI evoked for many people the spiritual reality of life and rekindled hope and faith: hope in the goodness that is within people and in our society, and faith in God. Even if it is not easily articulated, a spiritual yearning is to be found within most people. This yearning is found also among Catholics who have lost touch with their faith or whose faith was never deeply rooted in a personal relationship with Christ. Wishing to respond to this yearning but perhaps lacking in confidence in talking about their own spiritual life, many Catholics are asking how they can witness to their faith; what can they do to help introduce their faith in Christ to others in simple and straightforward ways?
The Bishops of England and Wales recognise that simple acts of witness, accompanied by sincere prayer, can be a powerful call to faith. Traditional Catholic devotions such as making the sign of the cross with care and reverence, praying the Angelus, saying a prayer before and after our meals, to name only a few, are straightforward actions which both dedicate certain moments in our daily lives to Almighty God and demonstrate our love and trust in His goodness and providence. If these devotions have been lost or even forgotten, particularly in our homes and schools, we have much to gain from learning and living them again.
The Bishops have looked again at the role of devotions and the practice of penance, both of which can help to weave the Catholic faith into the fabric of everyday life. Our regular worship at Holy Mass on Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, is the most powerful outward sign and witness of our faith in Jesus Christ to our family, friends and neighbours. Sunday must always remain at the heart of our lives as Catholics.
The Bishops also wish to remind us that every Friday is set aside as a special day of penitence, as it is the day of the suffering and death of the Lord. They believe it is important that all the faithful again be united in a common, identifiable act of Friday penance because they recognise that the virtue of penitence is best acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness.
The law of the Church requires Catholics on Fridays to abstain from meat, or some other form of food, or to observe some other form of penance laid down by the Bishops’ Conference. The Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this penance should be fulfilled simply by abstaining from meat and by uniting this to prayer. Those who cannot or choose not to eat meat as part of their normal diet should abstain from some other food of which they regularly partake.
This decision will come into effect from Friday 16 September 2011.Download
The article above with a useful Question and Answer section is available as a PDF: Friday Penance (with Q & A)
What is there to add? All arguments which traditional-minded Catholics have used for years to defend their "stubbornness" are there. We hope that other Episcopal Conferences - particularly in Europe, where Catholic identity is so deeply in need of reinforcement and Catholics are in great need of distinctive marks - may follow suit. And we also hope that the Supreme Legislator may reinstate it in Canon Law in its former fullness and abolish the "generous" possibilities of national opt-outs.
Now, in honor of this great decision of the Bishops of England and Wales, we would like to ask our readers to suggest to our friends in those two countries (and in the Isle of Man) who may be returning just now to this venerable practice recipes and tips on meatless dishes. For this first post, we would like to focus on dishes that do not contain any seafood or freshwater fish.
Our own Rorate suggestion is the Levantine dish known as mujaddara, moujadara, m'jadra etc (Arabic: مجدرة; Hebrew: מג'דרה; Cypriot Greek: Μουκ̌έντρα; Turkish: müceddere), a ridiculously inexpensive, protein-rich, and very interesting combination of rice, lentils, onions, and olive oil (we prefer the simpler versions, such as this one). What are your meatless and seafood-free suggestions?
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Now, in honor of this great decision of the Bishops of England and Wales, we would like to ask our readers to suggest to our friends in those two countries (and in the Isle of Man) who may be returning just now to this venerable practice recipes and tips on meatless dishes. For this first post, we would like to focus on dishes that do not contain any seafood or freshwater fish.
Our own Rorate suggestion is the Levantine dish known as mujaddara, moujadara, m'jadra etc (Arabic: مجدرة; Hebrew: מג'דרה; Cypriot Greek: Μουκ̌έντρα; Turkish: müceddere), a ridiculously inexpensive, protein-rich, and very interesting combination of rice, lentils, onions, and olive oil (we prefer the simpler versions, such as this one). What are your meatless and seafood-free suggestions?
