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Father James Zoghby and Father John Boudreaux of Corpus Christi Parish Tel.: 251-342-1852 are either flirting with heresy or are practicing heretics. 
Adam's and Eve's Disobedience in the Garden of Eden Meatless Fridays Abstinence Friday abstinence signifies the discipline we should be living each day; self-control, etc. On Sunday, August 31, 2003, Father John Boudreaux gave a homily on the ridiculousness or silliness (the concept was the same though the words were different) in regard to the concept of not eating meat on each Friday throughout the year. This penitential practice is referred to as abstinence. Fathers Zoghby's and Boudreaux's past practice of alternating weeks for preparing homilies * is probably still in effect. This means that the same sermon is given by both each week. Their denigration of the practice of abstinence, at subject Sunday Masses, at the very least shows a failure to understand the reasons for practicing abstinence.
Abstinence is a practice that was developed in the early Church and probably practiced by the apostles themselves. Up until recent years it had been a mandatory practice for Catholics under both the 1917 and the 1983 Code's of Canon Law. Under the current code if the bishop's of the United States find valid reason for substituting another penitential practice then such may take place. Note however that there is to be a substitute practice. There was never the intent to eliminate the practice of abstinence. The current condition of the American Church (and probably elsewhere) is that in effect it is apostate, that is, doing its own thing. The origin of abstinence the practice of not eating a particular item or items began in the Garden of Eden.
Humanism is clearly present in the Church. When I was an associate at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception I witnessed what to me was a surprising event in the cathedral dining room. Archbishop Lipscomb had two priest visitors, former classmates of his, who had stayed overnight at the rectory and had come in somewhat late for breakfast. Archbishop Lipscomb apologetically stated to them that it was practice at the cathedral to observe abstinence on Fridays, but, if they preferred he would have the cook prepare bacon for them for breakfast. In his weekly column in the September 5, 2003 issue of The Catholic Week, the archdiocesan Catholic newspaper, Archbishop Lipscomb gets involved with secular interests by supporting new taxes purportedly for public education and other purposes. The following is excerpted from his column in The Catholic Week:
Due to the high incidence of clerical and religious sex abuse in the Church (costing into the billion dollar range worldwide), there was a mandatory meeting held in Saint Joan of Ark parish hall for all priests, deacons, and key religious personnel of the region during which we were all finger printed and given instruction on permissible ways of interacting with children. Obligations for reporting sex abuse was part of the curriculum. None of this would have been necessary if the bishops of the Church had been obedient to Sacred Scripture and removed such grave offenders from office. A far less satisfactory alternative would minimally have been to publicly admonish priest offenders as is mandated in Scripture for certain grave offenses. Note: The great scandal in the Church that now exists is a direct result of not admonishing or removing from office grave sinners. The scandal is the product of the sinner and bishops' failure to remove from office or publicly admonish offenders when required. There are few if any bishops of the Church who are not now guilty of the grave sin of scandal by reason of failure to punish. Indeed most, for this reason, are considered perpetrators of grave injustices.
When lunch was served one might have expected that even if only as a voluntary penitential expression that meat would not have been served. But as faith has pretty much gone out of the window, in this and most other dioceses in the world, it should not have been unexpected that not only one, but three types of meat were served at this meal. There was nothing served to even suggest that it was Friday, or that any form of penitential practice might be observed concerning the grave offenses that had been committed throughout the Church, but particularly in our own diocese. Archbishop Lipscomb himself has personally expressed to me his own opinion that the teachings of the Old Testament were no longer applicable. It seems that we are now in the grips of the cafeteria mentality wherein anyone can choose what one wants to accept or reject concerning matters of faith and morals. Abstinence The Key to Salvation
Abstinence is more fruitful when voluntary, that is, not required by law. Law establishes a minimum standard that reveals one's association with God. In essence it is not the eating of meat that is wrong, it is the failure to be submissive to discipline (obedience Adam and Eve failed to obey. Consequence : humanity is subjected to the death penalty ; admission into Heaven became impossible until the propitiatory death of Jesus.) that is intended to tell one that he or she is not right with God. Apostolic Constitution On Penance Paul VI, Paenitemini, 17 February, 1966
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Appendix A Catholic Dictionary (Our Sunday Visitor - © 1993) Abstinence (AB-stih-nehns): 1. Penitential: Depriving oneself of meat or of foods prepared with meat on days prescribed by the Church as "penitential": Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of the year which are not solemnities (in the United States, not all Fridays of the year but only the Fridays of Lent cc. 1253 states that if abstinence from meat is not observed substitution is required). The discipline binds those fourteen years of age and above. 2. Sexual: To refrain from sexual intercourse, completely (total abstinence) or periodically (periodic abstinence or periodic continence). Total abstinence is observed in obedience to the Sixth Commandment by single persons and couples whose marriages are not recognized by the Church as valid. Periodic abstinence is observed by a married couple for regulating conception by natural means or for ascetical motives. Abstinence, Day of (DAY uhv AB-stih-nehns): In current Church practice, a day on which the faithful, above the age of reason, must refrain from eating meat. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence, as are at least the Fridays of Lent in the U.S. The practice of abstinence is intended to remind Christians of their sins and the need to repent, and in this way to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ's passion and death. Abstinence, Penitential (peh-nih-TEHN-shuhl AB-stih-nehns): Depriving oneself of meat or of foods prepared with meat (sauces, gravies, soups from meat stock) on days prescribed by the Church as "penitential." According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law (cc. 1249-1253), the universal Church designates as penitential days all Fridays of the year that are not solemnities, as well as Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Each national conference of bishops, however, may adapt this universal law for particular regions. Accordingly, in 1966 the bishops of the United States determined that in their jurisdiction, abstinence would be obligatory only on the Fridays of Lent, Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday. While strongly recommending that abstinence be observed on all Fridays of the year as the privileged and traditional way of commemorating the day of the Lord's passion, the United States' bishops permitted Catholics to substitute other works of charity and devotion on Fridays outside Lent. When issuing their pastoral letter on peace, the bishops recommended abstinence (and fasting, when possible) on all Fridays for the intention of world peace and as an act of solidarity with the world's hungry. Abstinence, Sexual (SEHK-shφφ-uhl AB-stih-nehns): Refraining from sexual intercourse completely (total abstinence) or at certain times for specific reasons (periodic abstinence or periodic continence). Appendix "B" The 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law ( cc. 1248 - 1254)
On feast days of precept, Mass is to be heard; there is an abstinence from servile work, legal acts, and likewise, unless there is a special indult or legitimate customs provide otherwise, from public trade, shopping, and other public buying and selling. Canon 1249 (1983 CIC 1248) On abstinence and fast
The law of abstinence prohibits meat and soups made of meat but not of eggs, milks, and other condiments, even if taken from animals. Canon 1251 (NA)
§ 2. It is not forbidden to mix meat and fish in the same meal; or to exchange the evening meal with lunch. Canon 1252 (1983 CIC 1251)
§ 2. The law of abstinence together with fast must be observed every Ash [Wednesday], every [Friday and Saturday] of Lent, each of the [Ember] Days, and the vigils of the Pentecost, the Assumption of the God-bearer into heaven, All the (solemnities of) Saints, and the Nativity of the Lord. § 3. The law of fast only is to be observed on all the other days of Lent. § 4. On [Sundays] or feasts of precept, the law of abstinence or of abstinence and fast or a fast only ceases, except during Lent, nor is the vigil anticipated; likewise it ceases on Holy [Saturday] afternoon. Canon 1253 (NA)
Canon 1254 (1983 CIC 1252)
§ 2. All those are bound by the law of fast from the completion of the twenty-first year of age until the beginning of the sixtieth. Appendix "C" The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship (extracts) - © 1990 PENANCE PENITENTIAL DAYS By the 8th century in Rome, penitential acts observed on particular days of the week came to be known as the quattuor tempora, the four seasons, and hence ember days by way of the German Quatember. Twelve liturgical days arranged in four triads, i.e., the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of four weeks of the year, were located approximately at the beginning of the four seasons. Although origins remain unclear, it seems certain that their observance began in the church in Rome and became part of western practice only when the Roman liturgy made its way into other western countries. The Didache (8:1), an early Christian document dating from the end of the apostolic period, testifies to the observance of Wednesdays and Fridays as fast days. Wednesday marked the day anticipating the Lord's arrest thus beginning the passion, and Friday commemorated the day of his death on the cross. The origin of the penitential character of Saturdays remains obscure. It may have developed because it was the day the disciples fasted while their Lord rested in the tomb. It also followed Friday, the day of pain and sorrow, and preceded Sunday, the day of joy and glory. The earliest testimony to ember fasts came from the 4th-century author, Pontius Maximus, who affirmed their observance with an appeal to Zech 8:19: "The fasts of the fourth month and of the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth, shall become festivals of joy and gladness." By the 5th century the ember fasts were established and familiar practice as witnessed in the ember week sermons of Pope Leo I (d. 461) who considered them binding moral precepts of the new covenant that originated in O.T. regulations and in apostolic tradition. He was the first to associate the practice with the four seasons of the year: in the spring a fast during the forty days before Easter, in summer a fast at Pentecost, in the fall during September and in winter during December. The purpose of the cycle of fasting was to learn from the constant and recurring rhythm of the year's cycle that all the baptized were in constant need of purification. At least since Pope Gelasius I at the end of the 5th century, candidates were presented and scrutinized for ordination on Wednesday, presented for public approbation on Friday and ordained at the vigil liturgy on Saturday. The Liber pontificalis which dates from the early 6th century testifies that Pope Callistus I (217-222) ordered a fast on three Saturdays of the year, in summer, autumn and winter, in keeping with the prophecy of Joel 2:15-19, at the season of new grain, wine and oil. Each ember week ended between Saturday night and Sunday morning with a long vigil mentioned several times by Pope Leo I in his sermons. The Mass of this night vigil counted for the Sunday. However, by the 7th century a special Mass was formulated for this Sunday while the nocturnal liturgy was regularly moved to an earlier hour until it was finally celebrated on Saturday morning. As a result Saturdays in ember weeks also took on a penitential character such as Wednesdays and Fridays. The custom of seasonal fasting as observed on particular penitential days spread throughout northern Europe with the acceptance of the Roman liturgy. The sending of Augustine and his monks to England by Pope Gregory I (d. 604), the missionary work of Boniface (d. 754) from England to Germany and the efforts of Pepin (d. 768) and Charlemagne (d. 814) extended these penitential practices. By the middle of the 9th century the observance of the four groups of ember days was widespread in the West. At the Roman synod of 1078, Pope Gregory VII resolved confusion about the exact weeks within which the ember days were to be observed. His decision marked the first time that the exact dates for the church's observance of ember days were determined authoritatively. They were to begin on the Wednesday after the first Sunday of Lent (spring), in the octave of Pentecost (summer), after the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14 (autumn) and the week after the third Sunday of Advent (winter). These days represented an intense ascetical effort at the beginning of each of the four seasons. The liturgical observance of each ember day included its own proper office. The priest or bishop who presided at Mass wore violet vestments with the exception of red during the octave of Pentecost. The traditional penitential exercises of prayer, fasting and almsgiving were complemented and balanced by days of thanksgiving and gratitude for the seasonal harvests. The revision of the liturgical year and calendar which followed Vatican II retained the ember days in principle while leaving their date and form to the discretion of episcopal conferences so that observances could be adapted to the needs of the local churches. Paul VI reformed the section of the 1917 Code of Canon Law on penitential days with the apostolic constitution Paenitemini (1966). That same year the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States instructed Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during Lent and to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (obligation for penitential practice has not been removed). A recommendation was also made to the entire Catholic community to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year; individuals were encouraged to impose a fast on themselves on all weekdays of Lent. The penitential nature of the Lenten season was thus highlighted and reinforced while the Advent season was characterized less by penance and more by expectation and vigilance. The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (nn. 45-47) acknowledge the traditional observance of ember days and affirm their value. The revised Code of Canon Law contains five canons (1249-1253) which deal with the purpose and particulars of days of penance. They largely echo Paenitemini. The purpose of penitential days, especially all Fridays of the year and the season of Lent, is to unify all Christians in a common observance of penance by way of fidelity to prayer and works of charity, to self-denial and the observance of fast and abstinence. Such practices no longer seek self-abnegation as their goal; rather, they constitute a discipline that enables a faithful and effective response to the gospel mandate of love. The particulars of penitential observances, such as their time, number and purpose, are entrusted to the discretion of the episcopal conferences. PENITENTIAL PRACTICES Church teaching and practice distinguished four parts in the sacrament of forgiveness: contrition, confession, satisfaction and absolution. The first three are acts of the penitent, and belong together as parts of a single process of repentance. The "satisfaction" was a program of prayer, fasting and almsgiving which gave concrete expression to the inner conversion, strengthened and developed it, and helped to undo the damage caused by sin. During the first eight centuries this was the normal pattern. In the smaller communities of early Christianity the sinner was easily recognized by his sinful behavior and was "excommunicated" from the community, both to teach him a lesson and to protect the community from the contagion of his sin. He was re-admitted only after he had proved the sincerity of his repentance by carrying out the "penance" prescribed by the community. In the case of secret grave sins, the sinner would confess these to a spiritual counselor who would decide whether they were grave enough to warrant public penance. But absolution came only after the penance had been completed, and it was a solemn reconciliation, usually on Holy Thursday. In the early centuries the penances were mostly public, and re-admission to the community was allowed only once in a lifetime. By the 8th century frequent confession had become common, but because many penitents did not return for absolution after doing the prescribed penance, the practice developed of doing the penance afterwards. This inversion of the order in the acts of the penitent was meant to be pastorally helpful, but in fact it introduced an artificial break in the natural process of repentance. A more serious consequence of the change was that a new outlook developed in the understanding of penance. It came to be seen as a punishment for sin, and the model for the sacrament of forgiveness came to be the criminal one, the court of law with judge, sentence, punishment. More and more, penance was seen simply as a penalty to be paid for wrongdoing. The system of tariff penances helped this process with its detailed lists of graded penances for different kinds of sins. Prayer, fasting, abstinence from marital relations, pilgrimage or exile were all imposed. Some were for life, others for years, from thirty down to one year. Seven days fasting was the penance for drunkenness, one day on bread and water for immoderate eating. The severity needs to be judged against the general harshness of life in those centuries, and it must be admitted that the penitential books did stress the need for conversion and strove to emphasize the ecclesial and sacramental aspect of penance. Good intentions, however, were not enough. The judicial model is still largely dominant. In spite of the new rites of reconciliation, there is still a crisis about the sacrament. The judicial model needs to give way to more biblical and more caring models, of healing (medicine), of pastoring (the shepherd looking for the lost sheep), of the weak, immature person needing help to grow. Of the papal documents since the council, Pope Paul VI's exhortation Paenitemini (1966) is the one most in line with Vatican II thinking and contemporary theology. It emphasizes the social dimension of sin, conversion and penance, and makes clear that penance and social responsibility cannot be separated. It takes up the traditional penitential activities of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, but stresses that they need to be developed in line with the needs of today's world. The penitential dimension of all Christian life is underlined as part of ongoing conversion, with a strong emphasis on social responsibility. Any rehabilitation of penitential practices needs to relate them intrinsically to the nature and effects of sin. They are not punishments imposed for wrongdoing, but medicinal practices to heal the harm done by sin. When seen in this light, the traditional ones make a lot of sense. Augustine listed them as: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, endurance of the sufferings of daily life, forgiveness of insults, works of service, but most of all praying the Our Father in the liturgical assembly. In religious terms, sin brings about a break in the relationship with God, alienates one from one's better self, from one's fellow human beings and in a certain sense from the environment. The penitential practices work in all of these areas. Prayer can heal the break with God and rebuild the love relationship he offers. But for this to happen, more is needed than the recitation of a few formal prayers. It is not a question of placating an angry God to make up for the offense. God does not need our prayer, but we need it in order to allow God's love to come back into our lives. Sin is basically self-assertion, putting self before all else, deciding for oneself what is right and wrong. To change this attitude we need first to recognize and accept that we have done wrong: "I have sinned against you, you only, O God" (Ps 51:4). We need to admit our need for God: "Create a pure heart in me, O God" (Ps 5 1: 10). But most of all we need to become prayer-full people so that God can put a new spirit in us without forcing our freedom. Augustine saw the Our Father as most efficacious for repentance and forgiveness. He says: "God has established in his church ... a remedy which we need to take each day by saying: `Forgive us our trespasses"' (Sermon 352.8). To pray the words Jesus gave us is not merely to recite a prayer, but to want to take on the basic attitude of mind and heart expressed in the words: that we truly want God's name (his person, his will) to be blessed, respected, honored; that we really want his kingdom to come, a kingdom of justice and peace, of harmony, of mutual love and service; that we recognize God's goodness in the gifts of the earth, our daily bread, that we recognize our dependence on him in meeting our needs. When we pray: "Forgive us our trespasses" we truly want to be healed of our sinfulness, even if it costs, and especially we ask God's help in forgiving others. To the extent that we forgive others, we become more like our heavenly Father who forgives all with equal love. As a penitential practice to enable us to relate to God as we should, the Our Father needs to be more than a formula. It needs to become a basic attitude and outlook, a whole pattern of life. Augustine points to its strategic position in the eucharist, where it is an expression of reconciliation with God and with the community, so that it is both a means for becoming the body of Christ and a preparation for receiving the body of Christ. Fasting is closely allied to prayer. Jesus speaks of certain demons that can be cast out only through prayer and fasting. From earliest times fasting has been a common religious practice: as atonement for sins, as an expression of sorrow and conversion of heart, as a purification, as a discipline to control the body and facilitate prayer, and as a means of getting God's ear. The church no longer imposes the rigid fasting periods of former times, but devout Christians are rediscovering the benefits of fasting for improving the quality of spiritual life. Although the traditional fast meant only one full meal a day, it is not uncommon now to find committed people who observe a total fast from solid food for a full day each week. The mortification involved (death to the unbridled self) helps to heal the selfishness and internal alienation involved in sin, bringing a new wholeness to one's life. Fasting can be understood in the broad sense also to include restriction or abstinence in all one's appetites. When sin directly hurts one's neighbor there is need to undo the damage caused to his person, property or reputation, to make restitution if something has been stolen. This is a matter of strict justice. But every sin has a social dimension in so far as the sinner's selfishness lessens the holiness of the body of Christ and also leaves him less capable of reaching out in love to his neighbors. Almsgiving and the other corporal works of mercy have always been the means of overcoming this aspect of sin. But the spirit of almsgiving can be broadened to include all giving of oneself to help others in need. In today's world of refugees, famine and natural disasters there is no shortage of worthy causes needing help. But a special form of almsgiving aimed at overcoming the social effects of sin is work for justice and peace. . . . Alienation from the environment is another effect of sin. The earth (that) God gave us as our home and garden can become a hostile environment, so that we earn our bread in sweat and toil (Genesis 3). But a new form of alienation is taking place at present in so far as we exploit the resources of our planet with no thought for the delicate balance of nature so essential for the common well-being of all God's creatures. Our concern for comfort, luxury, efficiency and profit has raped the earth and poisoned the sea and air so that we have no gift to leave to future generations. Pope Paul VI's call to the church to find new forms of penance to meet the social dimension of sin is a special challenge in this area. The size of the problem should not be an excuse for inaction. Penitential exercises can reach from personal discipline in the purchase and use of certain goods, to involvement in tree-planting, political lobbying, consciousness-raising. To discuss penitential practices simply in terms of the penance to be done as part of the sacrament of reconciliation fails to do justice to Paul VI's statement: "By divine law all the faithful are required to do penance." It is an integral part of Christian life. Although Jesus had no need of personal repentance, he fasted for forty days. Following the Master, every Christian must take up his/her cross and share in the sufferings of Christ. There are many sins for which the sacrament is not necessary, but none can be forgiven without conversion, contrition; and these need to be externally expressed in penitential exercises. Whether used as remedies for venial sins or accepted as satisfaction for sins confessed in the sacrament, penitential exercises are directed towards a new way of life. Their purpose is to express and develop the ongoing conversion to which all Christians are called.
Appendix "D" Moral Theology by Rev. Heribert Jone, © 1961 §386. Part III The universal disciplinary laws of the Church are contained in the Code of Canon Law (Codex Juris Canonici). Their treatment is principally the task of the canonist. We have heretofore made repeated references to some of these laws. Among those not yet mentioned we shall treat only those that find the most frequent application in daily life. The Precepts of the Church In the United States it is customary to single out the following chief precepts of the Church:
§387. Chapter I I. The Days of Fasting and Abstinence. In accordance with the provisions of Canon Law, as modified by the use of special faculties granted by the Holy See, the following regulations were adopted by the Bishops of United States. 1. Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas.
3. Days of fast are all the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, and the Vigil of Pentecost.
It is to be noted that Ember Days and the Vigil of Pentecost are now days of partial abstinence. The special exclusion of the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas from this classification is noteworthy. These two Vigils are days of complete abstinence. - By distinguishing between complete and partial abstinence the benefits formerly granted to working people (Workingmen's Indult) are now extended to all who are obliged to abstain. - There is no longer any question about the interpretation of "workingmen" since the new formula makes no difference between manual workers, stenographers, white collar workers, students, seminarians, religious, etc. All may make use of the same privileges. - The purpose of these new regulations and important modifications is to enable those who are engaged in hard and exhaustive occupations, to keep the fast by enabling them to eat meat once on (partial) abstinence days. - Furthermore, Catholics serving in the Armed Forces, while they are in actual service, and their families, too, when eating with them, are dispensed from abstinence except on Ash Wednesdays, Good Friday, Holy Saturday (the entire day) and the Vigil of Christmas. - The Ordinaries of the United States may also dispense their subjects from the laws of fast and abstinence on civil holidays, but they are to exhort the faithful to make some offering, especially to the poor, by way of compensation. Bishops may dispense the entire diocese or any part of it (e.g., a town) for the special reason of a great concourse of people or for one of public health (C. 1245). General custom allows one who is fasting to take a double portion of food at the collation on Christmas Eve (jejunium gaudiosum). 1. The law of fasting forbids more than one full meal a day. Meat may be taken at the principal meal on a day of fast except on Fridays, Ash Wednesday and the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one's needs; but together they should not equal another full meal.
When health or the ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige. One who is not obliged to fast may eat meat as often as he wills on days when fasting alone is prescribed. In doubt concerning either fast or abstinence, one should consult his confessor or pastor. The simultaneous use of fish and flesh at the same meal, and the interchange of the noon and evening meals (dinner and lunch) is permitted (C. 1251). For a just cause one may also interchange breakfast and lunch. To interrupt the principal meal for more than half an hour without reason would be a venial sin; should the interruption last more than an hour it would be seriously sinful. For a proportionately good reason (e.g., to assist the dying) one may interrupt his dinner for several hours. In determining the amount that one may take for breakfast and lunch the following must be regarded : a person's physical constitution, the kind of work he does, the length of the fast and the severity of the climate. In general, a person may eat enough to enable him to do his work well and to continue the fast without considerable detriment to himself. If one - either deliberately or by mistake - has eaten two full meals on a fast day, one can no longer observe the fast and, therefore, he may eat to satiety again.
The prohibition extends only to the flesh of mammals and birds, including the fat, blood, marrow, brains, heart, liver, etc. Lawful foods are fish, frogs, turtles, snails, mussels, clams, oysters, crabs, etc. - As seasoning one may use rendered lard not only to prepare food but also as a spread. Likewise lawful are margarine, and meat extracts that have lost the taste of meat or broth, e.g., gelatine; likewise gelatine products of animal origin, but not soup cubes that contain meat ingredients. He who has once eaten meat on a day of abstinence may still observe the law and, therefore, he is not free to eat meat again the same day. 2. The law of abstinence obliges all who have completed their seventh year until the end of their life (C. 1254). IV. The Gravity of the Obligation. The laws of fasting and abstinence in themselves oblige gravely. Slight violations of them are only venial sins.
b) Individual dispensations from the laws of fasting and abstinence may be had from one's pastor, who may dispense not only individuals but also individual families. This same faculty is enjoyed by the superior in an exempt Religious Community with regard to the professed members, the novices, servants, guests, etc., who reside in the house day and night (C. 1245).
a) Physical or moral impossibility excuses from the law of fasting.
Note. The exhortation of the bishops "to attend daily Mass, to receive Holy Communion often, to take part more frequently in exercises of piety, to give generously to works of religion and charity, to perform acts of kindness towards the sick, the aged and the poor, and to practice voluntary self-denial especially regarding alcoholic drink and worldly amusements, and to pray more fervently, particularly for the intentions of the Holy Father" during periods of fast and abstinence should be understood as an integral part of the formula. - Public festivities during Lent and Advent are forbidden by the law of custom (Cf. 45). In determining the sinfulness of these one must consider the time (e.g., Good Friday), the kind of entertainment, the opinions of conscientious Christians and the possibility of scandal. §395. Chapter II I. Confession. All the faithful who have reached the use of their reason must sincerely confess their sins at least once a year (C. 906).
1. The obligation extends also to children who have not yet reached their seventh year, provided they have the use of their reason. The duty to see to it that children make their Easter Communion rests primarily upon the parents, guardians, confessors, teachers and the pastor (C. 860). Confer also 501.
The fifth precept of the Church concerns both rich and poor (who can often render personal service), young and old. While their obligation is a grave one, we would not accuse anyone of grave sin who neglects to contribute his share, unless the clergy would thereby suffer want or other parishioners be greatly overburdened. Entrance into the church during divine worship must be absolutely free (Cf. C. 1181), and a parishioner has a right to the consolations of religion when dying regardless of his past neglect in supporting his church (Cf. Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, 292). N. B. II. The sixth precept of the Church obliges the faithful to observe the laws that the Church has made regarding marriage. These laws forbid the Nuptial Mass and marriage festivities during Lent and Advent, mixed marriages, marrying one's second cousin or nearer relation, attempting to marry otherwise except before a priest and two witnesses, etc. (Cf. 656 sqq.) |
