For your consideration:

Lent is just a month away. Observing a vegan Lent (every day, and not just on Wednesdays & Fridays) has historical Christian roots, even if most churches have have forgotten or overlooked this, or even if the treatment of animals was never on the radar screen of spiritual observances. But times have changed. And the conditions forced upon a majority of our “food” animals in the factory farms, in transport, and at the slaughter houses are sinful and would not be tolerated by anyone, if the victims were cats or dogs. If this is something you are unfamiliar with, please click on the projector to bring up a page of PSA’s and undercover investigations:


Please consider abstaining from all flesh foods (including seafood) as a way of withholding support from the industries that profit from animal exploitation, suffering and death, by the billions. It does not matter if you view Lent as a period of self-denial and penitence; of prayer and study; of “taking on something new”, or actions that express a merciful and compassionate attitude toward the innocent and powerless. Any of these understandings would fit in well with the observance of “least harm” this Lent.

Here are a few resources:

Veg4Lent offers resources for each week in Lent.

Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church’s Lenten recipes page

Visit http://www.christianveg.com to view CVA’s 1 minute TV commercial.

New Raw in Ten Minutes recipe book described by the author as “all designed to be fun, fast, easy, simple and delicious. Finally truly healthy fast food and instant meals!”

This year’s Meatout 2005 will be on 3/20/2005. For more information, click on the banner:

The goal for this is to raise awareness, offer alternatives, with the hope that non-vegetarians will choose vegetarian options on that day, at least. Be a part of it. But if you observe Lent, I hope you will choose the “whole enchilada” for 40+ days instead of just one.

Click here for a variety of good resources:

Canon 1252 All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence; all adults are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Nevertheless, pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.

Can. 1253 It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

“On the Fridays outside of Lent the U.S. bishops conference obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the US to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. They must do some penitential/charitable practice on these Fridays. For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere.

Charitable practice sounds like a good substitution. But, may I suggest that choosing not to eat meat also falls within the realm of choosing a charitable practice? (Why limit charitable practice to Fridays?)

And may I also suggest that there is no reason I can think of to exempt children under 14 or the elderly from the Friday abstention, since we have so many healthy options and meat substitutes available in this country? (I’ve even tried vegetarian salmon!)
No one in the United States is likely to suffer from malnutrition, if they abstain from meat (and fish!) just one day out of every week.

I hope people of faith will choose to do more than the minimum this Lent and beyond.