If you are gearing up for the questions from non-Catholics friends, here are some points that you should know about abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent.
1. Every Friday of Lent you are to refrain from eating meat. You may also hear it referred to as “abstain from meat” or just “abstinence”. They all mean the same thing: Do not eat meat.
2. The meat that Catholics should not be eating is any flesh from a warm blooded animal. This includes Chicken. Fish, not being a warm blooded animal, is fine. Any other non-meat food is fine (no, fish is not mandatory).
3. For Catholics this is not voluntary. It is required of all Catholics that are 14 years of age or older, useless there is a medical reason.
4. Since the first century AD, Catholics abstained from eating meat on Fridays. Abstinence and fasting actually go back to traditions found in the Old Testament. Other urban legends that put the reason later than that are wrong.
5. Friday is the day of the week that Catholics observe the crucifixion of our Lord. Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us and in remembrance we do not eat flesh from warm blooded animals.