There was a time in the not too distant past when most Catholics could be publicly identified on Fridays. Almost everyone, non-Catholics included, knew that Catholics did not eat meat on Fridays.

Catholics, whether students at school, workers at offices and factories, or at home, all sat down to lunch on tuna salad or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Dinner was tuna casserole or fish sticks or (if we were lucky) cheese pizza. In fact, many restaurants catered to Catholics by offering fish specials on Fridays. Many of us can remember instances of forgetfully ordering meat on a Friday and then having to politely put it aside and wrap it up to take home when someone reminded us what day it was.

In 1966, the bishops of the United States changed that tradition by obliging abstinence from meat only on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, while encouraging a self-imposed abstinence on all other Fridays throughout the year. At the same time the bishops required Catholics to fast on both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday while recommending a self-imposed fasting on all Lenten weekdays.

Questions that are raised about the practices of fast and abstinence today include, "what" is fasting, "what" is abstaining, "who" is obliged by the Church to fast and abstain, and finally --- and perhaps most importantly --- "why" does the Church oblige us to fast and abstain? They are all worth examining as we approach the beginning of Lent.

Defining fasting and abstinence
Perhaps the first two questions are the easiest to answer. How does the church define fasting and abstinence from meat and who actually is obliged to fast and abstain?

Canon 1252 in the Code of Canon (Church) Law states: All persons 14 years old and above are bound by the law of abstinence. Pope Paul VI in Poenitemini: Apostolic Constitution on Fast and Abstinence (1966), states, "The law of abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, the products of milk, or condiments made of animal fat."

The same Canon 1252 also states: All adults are bound by the law of fasting up to their sixtieth birthday. "Adult" is defined in the Church's Canon Law as someone who is 18 or older. Pope Paul VI in Poenitmini states, "The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing --- as far as quantity and quality are concerned --- approved local custom." It is commonly understood that fasting prohibits eating between meals or in the evening after supper.

Reading the Church's Canons about fasting and abstaining during Lent can give the impression that the moral obligation to do so is absolute and there is no provision for those whose health might be compromised by such practices. But if we look at the Church law regarding the Eucharistic fast, we find some guiding principles for applying the obligation to fast and abstain in a reasonable fashion. Canon 919 states:

One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion. Those who are advanced in age or who suffer from any infirmity, as well as those who take care of them, can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have taken something during the previous hour.

Thus, applying the same concerns about age and health from Canon 919 to Canon 1252 allows us to apply common sense to the obligation to fast and abstain on the required days of Lent. In other words, fasting and abstaining do not morally oblige those of any age whose health concerns prevent them from doing so safely.

Nevertheless, Church law does encourage "pastors and parents to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance" (Canon 1252).

'Pain for pain's sake'?
All of this leads us to the most important question: Why? Why does the Church ask the faithful to fast an hour before Communion and all day on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Why does the Church ask us to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent? Are these examples of "because I said so" obligation by the magisterium, the Church treating us like children? Are these examples of the Church saying "pain for pain's sake" is good for you?

Of course not. In speaking about her Canon Law the Church states clearly that Salus animarum suprema lex --- the salvation of souls is the supreme law. Thus Church law is not about rules, for rules' sake, but about salvation. Similarly, moral theology defines its goal as "Cura animarum" or "care of souls" not "Cura regularum" or "care of rules."

Ultimately, the sign that the moral life of Christian disciples is maturing is when their moral choices move from "obligations" to "opportunities." We know we are growing spiritually and morally when we stop going to Mass on Sunday because we need to "fulfill our Sunday obligation," and start going because Sunday Mass is the "source and summit of our Christian life" (Lumen Gentium, n. 11). That there are still too many Catholics for whom Sunday Eucharist is an "obligation" is evidenced by those who know enough to plan to arrive before the Gospel and quietly exit at Communion in order to avoid mortal sin.

This type of morality is a morality of minimalism and legalism. Under the burden of legalism, all morality is reduced to a burden. Charity, chastity and temperance become things we have to do rather than what we want to do. On the other hand, authentic, mature morality is marked by a desire to develop habits of virtue. Charity, chastity and temperance are what we want to live out, not what we do out of fear.

We all know what happens to "have-tos" in our lives. How many of us have said, or heard said, "I'm dieting this week because I have to see my doctor next week and she wanted me to lose 15 pounds last time I saw her. I hope if I can lose a pound or two she won't be mad at me"?

If we are only losing weight for the doctor, it won't work. We will only succeed when we decide to change our diet and exercise routine for ourselves, when a healthy lifestyle becomes something we "want" to do not something we "have" to do. The exact same thing is true about the moral life in general and about fasting and abstinence in particular.

The maturity of Catholic disciples
The bishops made this clear when in 1966 they decided that Catholics in the United States would not "have" to abstain every Friday throughout the year, but only on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent. At the same time they stated that "Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole."

Nevertheless, I have had more than one person say to me in a moment of nostalgia for the pre-Vatican II Church, "I wish they had not gotten rid of the Friday abstinence obligation. Now I never abstain." This type of statement gets right to the heart of the matter. If the only reason I abstained is because I "had" to, how deeply was I committed to the spiritual values that the abstaining represented?

There are others who dismiss altogether even the reduced call to fast and abstain during Lent. These see the obligations as "unreasonable and ridiculous," even "old-fashioned." The bishops didn't remove the obligation of abstinence on all Fridays because acts of penance were not important or, even worse, no longer fashionable. They removed the "obligation" because they knew how valuable acts of penance like fasting and abstinence are, but only when they are fully embraced.

The removal of the obligation was a clear statement by the Church in the belief of the maturity of Catholic disciples. It demonstrates a hope that Catholic disciples would take up the challenge to embrace willingly and voluntarily acts of penance, if given the chance.

In fact, fasting and abstinence are always found in Scripture as voluntary actions designed to strengthen the spiritual resolve of the individual. Fasting and abstaining have no magical power in themselves. They do not "automatically" make us holy, but they are a means to achieve authentic spiritual growth. They can help us focus on what is most important in our lives, on how to moderate our appetites and how to manage our choices in holiness.

Authentic spiritual goals
At the same time, fasting and abstinence have been abused at times, when certain heretical sects embraced penitential actions simply for their own sake. According to some of the earliest of the Church Laws, the Apostolic Canons (dating from around 400 A.D.), punishment and excommunication were inflicted upon those who for a wrong motive abstained from marriage, meat and wine.

The Church has never said, and doesn't want to say, that celibacy, abstinence and temperance are punishments or that sex, meat and wine are evil and to be avoided at all times. Rather, the traditional practices of fasting and abstinence have the authentic spiritual goal of reminding us that as good as meat and enjoying our meals can be, there is a greater good beyond any legitimate earthly pleasure --- and that good is God.

When the Church calls us to the practices of fasting and abstaining, we can respond with minimalism to an "obligation," or we can respond wholeheartedly and see these practices as an opportunity to enhance our Lenten journey and liturgical experiences and deepen our engagement with Christ. It is for all disciples to see these penitential practices as opportunities to place Christ right where He belongs, at the center of our lives.

The physical hunger we endure on days of fast and abstinence should help us get in touch with our deepest spiritual hunger for our God. They can also help us grow in solidarity with our millions of sisters and brothers throughout the world who go to sleep hungry every night. Our fasting before Communion helps us focus on the Eucharist as our "Bread of Life," and helps us grow in the knowledge that no earthly food can satisfy our deep longing for the Body and Blood of Jesus Himself.

From minimalism to maximalism
In embracing the call for authentic fasting and abstinence we can challenge ourselves and our families to move beyond minimalism to maximalism. This could mean that we don't "play games" with authentic fasting and abstaining.

In other words, we shouldn't wait up to past midnight so we can head out for a cheeseburger, tacos, a philly cheesesteak or an Italian beef and sausage sandwich. We shouldn't plan on having an especially large main meal on fast days so our other two "smaller" meals aren't really so small. On Sunday we shouldn't be watching the clock to see if we can fit in a donut before heading out to Mass, especially if we can count on another few minutes of fasting because of a long homily.

It means that when we take these penances seriously we know we will go to bed hungry and/or longing for something we couldn't eat that day, but we also go to bed knowing that we have done what we wanted to do so that we could grow in our discipleship. We know we will arrive at Mass with a rumbling in our stomachs, but a rumbling that reminds us of our spiritual hunger for Holy Communion.

Vincentian Father Richard Benson is academic dean and professor of moral theology at St. John's Seminary, Camarillo. His column appears monthly in The Tidings.