This weekend is meat-fare Sunday, one of our preparation for the season of Lent.
Fr James Graham, writes:
n today’s reading from his first letter to the Christian community in Corinth, St Paul talks about fasting and freedom. But he doesn’t focus on what we should fast from or on when we should fast. Instead, he talks about fasting in terms of our love and responsibility for one another. We don’t fast because we’re ignorant or afraid of God. We don’t fast to punish or hurt ourselves, or because we like suffering. We don’t fast because the rules prescribe fasting and it would be a sin to break the rules. We do fast from certain foods and behaviors so that we don’t tempt or mislead others, who might not be as strong as we are.
In St Paul’s time, the problem was eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods, to idols. By eating the meat, people would be joining in the worship of the false gods—or at least it would look like that. In fact, St Paul says, it wouldn’t matter, because the idols are not real gods and have no power. But people who don’t have strong faith wouldn’t understand that, and they would think it was OK to worship idols even if you claimed to be Christian. So it will be best for all Christians not to eat the meat sacrificed to idols.
In our own time, of course, we don’t have to worry about meat that has been sacrificed to idols. But there are other kinds of false gods that we can be tempted by—our own pride, our own appetites, our own laziness, our own attitudes and desires—the kind of thinking that says, “I like to eat meat, and I know it wasn’t offered to an idol, so I can eat it any time I like.” But does that help us to focus on God’s goodness in our lives? Not really. Our laziness leads us astray; we don’t need anybody else to do it.