Why don some people eat meat on Friday?
The early Christians, like the Jews, believed that prayer, fasting (going without eating for a period of time), study, kindness, and good deeds went hand in hand. They often spent entire days in prayer and fasting. In the Middle Ages, working people couldn’t take whole days away from work, so they observed modified fasts (for example, going without meat or some favorite food) to remind themselves of Jesus’ death on Good Friday. Many, but not all, Christians observe some forms of modified fasts today, but please remember that fasting is not an end in itself; its value comes from the prayer and study and kindness that go with it.
