Why do people
fast or refrain from eating meat
during Lent?
Lent
has become a time for penitence and self-examination, study,
and spiritual
discipline. Perhaps the discipline most commonly
associated with Lent is fasting, which can take many forms,
such as giving up entire meals, or certain foods (like meat),
or radically
changing a diet, in order to be made mindful of one's humanity
and of God's providence. One tradition was to stop using
leavening during Lent. Hence on the day before Ash Wednesday,
Christians
observed “Fat Tuesday,” or Shrove Tuesday, or
Mardi Gras, when the household would enjoy its last use of
leavening
until Easter Day. One form of fasting in Lent (or at other
times) is to refrain from eating meat. Hence the serving
of fish as
a non-meat meal. The point is self-denial. Those who eat
fish all the time and rarely eat meat might want to undertake
a
different fast.
