Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
February 21, 2023
A Reflection on Lenten Fasting
February 21, 2023
Lent begins tomorrow with the celebration of Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday Masses at Saint Thomas Aquinas will be celebrated at 9 am and & 7 pm in the Parish Activity Center.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.
In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.
For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.
The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.