Jimmy Akin explains Pope Paul VI’s teaching on when breaking a penitential practice, such as abstinence from meat, constitutes a mortal sin, and what to do when we are in a social gathering where we may feel pressured to break that practice.
Transcript:
Host: Austin in Des Moines, Iowa, you are on with Jimmy Akin, what’s your question?
Caller: Hi, my wife and I have been invited over to a friend’s house with five other couples, a Friday in Lent, this Friday. And meat is going to be served, main dish. Just wondering a couple things, how to handle it. They’re all Catholic, too, which is frustrating. But we’re the only two, I think, that object. If we—first of all, if we did go and we ate meat, is that a mortal sin? And I guess, just looking for, maybe, guidance on how we handle this. Do we just go there and eat a salad? Do we…you know…object and kind of be the…
Jimmy: Stickouts?
Caller:The stickouts, the “holier-than-thou” couple.
Jimmy: Okay, well, so let’s deal with the first question first. The Church’s regulations for this are found in—at least in terms of universal law—are found in a document that was released by Pope Paul VI back in the 1960s called “Penitemane.” And in “Penitemane,” the pope re-ordered the Church’s penitential discipline, including the discipline of fasting and abstinence, which is what this is, abstinence from meat. And he indicated that the substantial observance of the Church’s penitential laws does bind gravely. And so if you were to fail to substantially observe them, and do so knowingly and deliberately, then that would constitute a mortal sin.
However, the fact that he chose to say “substantial observance—” that the substantial observance of these laws binds gravely—that suggests that there is…that under the current law, there is some flexibility; that one could deviate from the letter of the law in an insubstantial, or non-substantial way, and it wouldn’t be gravely sinful. And if you look at commentators on this, some of them will talk about, like, okay, a single exception, you know, wouldn’t be a substantial failure to observe the laws and their spirit. And so I could imagine commentators saying that it would be okay, in this situation, since you’re not in control of the food that’s being served, and you don’t want to be rude to these people, and you could even push them away from the Church…so I could imagine some commentators taking that position.
I could also imagine saying this is an opportunity to help these people take their faith more seriously. And doing so in a nice way…I, as someone who for many years has eaten low-carb, am used to being the stick-out at social gatherings, and my strategy at such events is to bend over backwards to make other people relaxed and having a good time and not make an issue out of my particular dietary practice. And so that’s something that you also might do.
You could also just talk to the host in advance and say, “Hey by the way, you know, it’s a Friday coming up and it’s during Lent, are you going to have an option for fish or for non-meat? Or maybe we could bring something of our own to contribute to the party.” And then you and your wife would have the opportunity to bring something and give the other people at the party a non-meat option.