The Laws on Fasting and Abstinence

Some Notes about Fasting and Abstinence

(Taken from Fr. Harold Parilla’s Facebook)

1. Abstinence means avoiding the consumption of meat, but eggs, milk products and condiments made of animal fat may be eaten. Chicken meat is covered by the prohibition on eating meat on days of abstinence.

Many commentators hold the opinion that the current law forbids only the meat of warm-blooded animals. Thus, the meat of cold-bloodied animals like frogs and turtles may be eaten on days of abstinence. [Hallelujah to lovers of exotic food!]

2. Abstinence from meat is required on all Fridays of the year (not just on Fridays of Lent), unless a solemnity falls on a Friday. The obligation of abstinence binds those who have completed their 14th year and older. The completion of the 14th year occurs at midnight at the end of one’s 14th birthday.

3. Fasting means eating only one full meal per day with two other lighter meals. The quantity of the “lighter meals” is to be measured according to local custom. In the Philippines, one prevalent standard holds that the two lighter meals should, when combined, not equal a full meal. This area leaves much room for individual estimation.

4. Fasting is obligatory only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The obligation to fast binds one beginning at midnight at the end of one’s 18th birthday up to midnight at the end of one’s 59th birthday. Note that the law on abstinence specifies the completion of the 14th year, while the law on fasting mentions the attainment of the age of majority until the beginning of the 60th year. [Praise God for the precision of canonical time!] No snacks are allowed in between meals on days of fasting.

5. Universal law provides that the conference of bishops can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. The conference can substitute in place of abstinence and fasting other forms or penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety (cf. can. 1253).

6. In view of can. 1253, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) prescribes that “Except on Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, abstinence may be substituted with exercises of piety, such as reading the Bible, going to Mass, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, praying the holy rosary, or with acts of charity, such as visiting the sick and prisoners, giving alms to the poor, or teaching catechism”. Based on the wording of the CBCP provision, it would seem that the list of exercises of piety and or acts of piety given is not exhaustive.

7. In light of universal law and the CBCP provision, the following can be said about fasting and abstinence in our context:

a. In the Philippines, fasting and abstinence remain obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, substitution is not permitted.
b. In the Philippines, on all other Fridays of the year, the faithful either abstains from meat or does exercises of piety or acts of charity.

8. An important presumption must be cited: the laws on fasting and abstinence bind only those who are healthy enough to observe them.

Walang Namamatay sa Dilim

“We do not die from the darkness; we die from the cold.” – Miguel de Unamuno

Takot ka ba sa dilim? Bakit ka natatakot? Sinasagisag ng dilim ang maraming bagay. Maaaring nakaraan: mga karanasang ayaw na nating balikan o gunitain. Maaari din itong panghinaharap: hindi natin alam kung ano ang mangyayari sa atin. Kaya laging pinapangunahan tayo ng ating mga takot. Takot na masaktan muli. Takot na magkamali sa pagdedesisyon.

Ibig sabihin, sa kasuluk-sulukan ng ating puso, ayaw nating maranasan ang iba’t ibang uri ng kamatayan. Ngunit walang namamatay sa pakikipagsapalaran sa buhay. Lalung tumitibay, lumalakas o gumagaling ang nakikibaka sa buhay. Wika ni Miguel de Unamuno, isang pilosopo, hindi daw tayo namamatay sa dilim; namamatay tayo sa lamig. Totoong mas maraming namamatay sa lamig – ang lamig ng walang pag-ibig. Maraming walang kulay at saysay ang buhay dahil hindi nila nararamdaman na may nagmamahal sa kanila.

Maraming mabibigla kapag sinabi ko na ang impyerno ay puspos ng lamig. Sabi ni Dante Alighieri na sumulat ng Divine Comedy, ang impyerno daw ay yelo. Ang mga nasa impyerno daw ay malamig: walang apoy ng pag-ibig. Hindi ba’t ang tawag natin sa ating kaibigan at kapamilya mga taong “warm” – at ang taong kaaway natin ay malamig? At hindi ba ang puso ni Hesus ay umaapoy, at ang Espiritu Santo ay lumiliyab? Pagdasal natin na mapuspos ng apoy ang ating mga buhay.

Paano Mo Mamahalin ang Taong Ibang Iba sa Iyo?

May nagtanong sa DZMM, sa programmang “Usapang Kapatid” kasama si Fr. Nono Alfonso SJ, Sr. Bubbles Bandojo RC, at Bian Orenciana: “Paano mo mamahalin ang isang taong ibang-iba sa iyo?” Tila bang nawawalan na siya ng pag-asa sa isang mahal sa buhay, iba nga lang ang personalidad. Heto po para sa iyo, at para sa ibang ganito din ang pinagdadaanan.

Nawawalan ka na ba ng pag-asa sa pagmamahal sa isang tao? Isang kaibigan ang nagsabi, “Ang hirap magmahal. Maraming sagabal.” Totoong maraming balakid sa tunay na pagmamahal. Kakabit nito ang iba’t ibang personal na issues natin sa buhay: mga sugat na hindi pa humihilom, mga nakaraang pilit na kinakalimutan, mga bagay na pinag-aawayan, o pag-uugaling hindi magkatugma sa inyong dalawa.

 

Ngunit sa gitna ng maraming sagabal at hirap sa ating mga ugnayan sa buhay, hindi pa rin napapawi ang hangaring magkaroon ng kasama habang-buhay. Sa kabila ng maraming takot, marami pa rin ang naniniwala sa pag-ibig. Hindi ba tayo nagtataka kung bakit gamit-na-gamit natin ang social networks tulad ng Facebook o Twitter? Gusto natin laging updated sa ating mga kaibigan.

 

The hunger for intimacy and love will always be stronger and greater than the fear of the consequence of loving another. Dito naka-ugat ang pag-asa. Ang pagka-uhaw sa pag-ibig ay hindi mapapawi. At dahil matindi ang pangangailangan sa isang tunay na ugnayan, mas maraming tao ang maglalaan ng panahon at pawis upang matupad ito. Kapag nahihirapan ka sa pagmamahal, isang solusyon lamang: isang mas matinding pagmamahal. Mahalin nang mahalin hangang ang puso sa iyo maibaling. Pagdasal natin na hindi maglalaho kailanman, ang pag-asa sa isang matibay at malalim na ugnayan.