Fats on Friday

[drummerboy]

So what's the Church law on using fats on Friday or other days of abstinence?  The law states to abstain from flesh and soup made from flesh, so meat and bone broths are obviously out of the question as they are made with actual meat. But then the law states that condiments made from fats are allowed. Does that mean gravy? Thay strikes me as odd. But would this imply I could. say, use lard or suet in breads or crusts? It's very ambiguous.  Thanks

[TerrorDæmonum]

The law on this depends on jurisdiction. Different churches can have different rules, as can different communities under authorities. Furthermore, individual areas can have rules imposed by the bishops in that area. The best resource then for knowing one's obligations is one's bishop.

The penitential rules are almost always odd, because the rules themselves are not necessarily penitential on their own if they are not observed according to the traditions of the Church with the right interior intention.

My personal advice is that if you tend to excess rigor and scruples (if these are matters of moral concern), then do what your spiritual advisor says on this and do not try to figure it out on your own. If you are not like that, I would say that deliberately doing a bit more than the rule can make life easier for yourself (if you avoid it all, you don't have to worry about it) if you understand that the extra is not a moral obligation but a personal choice.

It is hardly a great penance in our modern life to abstain from all animals a few days of out the year. Excess focus on culinary questions does not seem to be a matter of penance: if such ingredients are necessary or unavoidable, one is a unique situation I think.

[Melkor]

I've eaten bannock (made using lard) on Friday. In my mind, it's more about the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter. I know a few Catholics who eat waterfowl on Friday, which strikes me as wrong.

[Greg]

Just avoid beans on Thursday.  Simples.