Does the Daniel Fast Mandate Catholics to Abstain from Meat During Ash Wednesday and Fridays During Lent?
As Good Friday approaches, I remembered the time I was scolded for complaining about the food and told that we were to abstain from meat and the like in remembrance of Jesus. Yet, ironically, Jesus' death happened during the Passover when Passover Lamb was shared. I decided to check out on Catholic Answers' article "Here's What You Need to Know About Lent" by Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin. Akin mentions Daniel as an example. Catholic Answers' article "Why Do Catholics Practice Fasting and Abstinence during Lent?" by mentioning Daniel. I don't deny that Daniel did enter into a period of fasting in Daniel 10. We also can't deny that Daniel and his friends also requested vegetables to eat during their captivity to Babylon.
I think I could talk first about Daniel and his friends going vegetarian in Babylon. Babylon is obviously a pagan city. Daniel and three friends were expected to follow the Levitical laws on diet (Leviticus 11). Babylon was probably serving meats that weren't allowed such as pork and shellfish. Obviously, the best way they could obey God's command at that time was to simply eat vegetables. I was suspecting that they were healthier than the rest because the king's food was high in cholesterol. Reading through commentaries about Leviticus 11 can provide a scientific insight as to why God disallowed consumption of foods deemed unclean in the Old Testament.
The big issue with mandating Catholics (except those with certain health conditions) to abstain from meat is totally not biblical. In fact, Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16-18 the following:
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. 18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
In short, Paul was warning the believers in Colosse to avoid anybody from judging them in regards to holidays, new moons, and sabbaths. This isn't to say that we should ignore health advice from doctors. Rather, it's all about regards to holidays. It's not wrong to tell someone not to eat meat on a certain holiday if that person is having health problems like high cholesterol. What's wrong is when these are spiritualized as if they contribute anything to salvation. They were warned about entering into a voluntary humility which was not really humility. It was a false sense of humility and angel worship was happening in Colosse. Today, Catholics are unknowingly beguiled into voluntary humility when they say that they can't approach Jesus directly but that they must pass through the saints (which includes Mary) and angels. They are even now told that disobedience of not eating meat during Lent (except if medically needed to avoid such abstinence) is to enter into mortal sin. This is really another problem of adding another unnecessary burden to men's shoulders for religious reasons.
For Catholics, this isn't an issue of a license to sin. The Bible doesn't command you to fast on certain days. Daniel's fasting was done because of a really important issue. Daniel abstained from meat in Babylon because the meats weren't kosher or approved by Jewish law. Daniel fasted in Daniel 10 because he was having an important vision or fellowship with God. Daniel's fasting for three full weeks is more than abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Fridays. The Jews entered into prayer and fasting in times of national crisis. Fasting is still part of Christian discipline. However, Catholicism has mixed Christian voluntary fasting with legalism. Eating meat any time when one has the freedom to do so is not a sin. It's not a sin to hold a Lenten recollection and serve meat for those days. It's a celebration of that limited freedom in Christ. It's because eating meat even during certain days is not in itself a sin. It will only be a sin if you really disobey your doctor's advice not to eat meat when you shouldn't due to medical reasons. Otherwise, eating meat (except for human flesh) is not a sin. Though, I'd still rather advise against eating wild meat such as dogs, cats, pangolins, and the like because they are serious disease spreaders or that I'd rather avoid pork due to it not being healthy.
Catholics may say it doesn't match 1 Timothy 4:1-3. Aren't Catholic priests mandated to celibacy when the Bible demands priests in the Old Testament to be married? Isn't it that Catholics (except for those who really need meat) are to abstain from certain foods for certain days? Catholic Answers defends their stand rather professionally (unlike Splendor of the Church headed by Abraham Arganiosa) but it doesn't mean they're holding to biblical truth. I pray more Catholics will get to know the truth from the pages of the Scripture.