Chicago Archdiocese says no to veggie burgers during Lent

[Newest Reality]

30. Ok.

I said, it is not about the meat in that sense and is more spiritually nuanced. You are taking it too literally, so of course it is going to sound absurd to you since you are tying to fit it into a bias.

The point is, if you give up meat, you give up meat and if you are going to substitute the meat with a very similar meat substitute, then you are not giving up meat in this context. It is simple. It is the concept, not pragmatism.

And yes, it is about sacrifice because, in this context, it is about offering something precious to a deity. You could offer beans or pancakes, too, but this is not about that. Other religions have different kinds of offerings.

If you want to understand it, the history of Lent is interesting because there is a lot more to it and there have been changes over time, actually fasting is more significant than just meat:

These Lenten fasting rules also evolved. Eventually, a smaller repast was allowed during the day to keep up one's strength from manual labor. Eating fish was allowed, and later eating meat was also allowed through the week except on Ash Wednesday and Friday. Dispensations were given for eating dairy products if a pious work was performed, and eventually this rule was relaxed totally. (However, the abstinence from even dairy products led to the practice of blessing Easter eggs and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.)

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/history-of-lent.html