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Fast and Abstinence
by Paul Turner
During Lent, Catholics in the United States abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of the season. They fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. They are encouraged to continue the fast on Holy Saturday as well, in union with those preparing for baptism. On a fast day, people eat only one full meal; they may also eat two partial meals and should not snack between any of them.
The laws of fast and abstinence may vary from one country to another; however, they accomplish the same goals.
  • They help us imitate the example of Jesus, who fasted 40 days to prepare for his ministry.
  • They help us display our common repentance. More than declaring our personal desire for conversion of heart, they strengthen our community by expressing our corporate sorrow for social sin.
  • They teach us a detachment from passions and turn our hearts more toward God and less toward food.
  • They make us more disciplined and more charitable.
The purpose of fast and abstinence, then, is not to punish us but to make us more loving, more prayerful, more detached from whatever may keep us from God.
Fasting becomes more spiritually effective when sustained by other practices such as prayer, charity, and almsgiving. The prayers at Mass during Lent presume that the community is supporting its prayer with fasting and its fasting with prayer. 
Everyone age 14 and older is bound by the law of abstinence. Younger children are to be educated in its significance. Other Catholics are expected to avoid meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent no matter how old they become. However, fasting binds from after one’s 18th birthday until after the 59th. Catholics younger and older than that need not fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Nonetheless, fasting is a praiseworthy penitential practice, even when it is not required.
Throughout the year Catholics fast from food and drink one hour before sharing communion.

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Copyright © 1999, Resource Publications, Inc. 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112, (408) 286-8505. This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.  For permission e-mail info@rpinet.com.
Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, MO, holds a doctorate in sacramental theology from Sant' Anselmo University in Rome.

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