The Letter And The Spirit

 On my way to Mass for First Friday, so this will be a quick and dirty post. 

Speaking of it being Friday, my wife and I have been observing meatless Fridays for the past several years. But sometimes I wonder if we are more like Jews than Christians in this regard. I had a meatless sausage with eggs for breakfast and a meatless cheese 'steak' for lunch. Eating these meatless alternatives (psuedo-meat) can sometimes certainly be a kind of penance in its own right. Sometimes, though (like the 'chickenless-chicken cheesteak' from Capriotti's I had a couple weeks ago), they're downright indulgent. 

I thought I was being original in wrestling with this, but it seems the Washington Post has already broached the topic with the advent of Impossible (TM) meat substitutes.

Which begs the question--what is the point of meatless Fridays?

In a word, the point is penance. If you enjoy things like Impossible Whoppers from Burger King, but are technically avoiding meat flesh in doing so, what are you accomplishing? Seems like a very Pharisaical approach to skirting violations of 'the law.'  St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3:6). 

We are called to do penance on Fridays, and denial of eating meat is the universal practice of Catholics who are lucky to observe it as reluctant penance in Lent, if at all. As my boxing coach said one time, though: "If it doesn't hurt, you're not doing it right." Penance should be uncomfortable, and for our (and the Lord's) eyes only. I'm not sure how a fake meat burger that *almost* tastes like real meal fits into this. Seems like the letter, but not the Spirit, or penance, much like how Jesus did not miss the point of the Sabbath being for man, not man for the Sabbath. 

I have to run now, but just some food for thought here to mull over (no pun intended).