It is a bit harder to appreciate meatless Fridays these days, given the great variety and plenitude of the average diet in (much of) the modern world. For many

It is a bit harder to appreciate meatless Fridays these days, given the great variety and plenitude of the average diet in (much of) the modern world. For many centuries, meat was more scarce and a small measure of it – perhaps in the principal meal of the day – was a prized part of the diet. Today we know a lot about amino acids, calorie content, etc.; despite the lack of such knowledge, people generally knew and experienced that meat was hearty and sustaining. So to deliberately forego meat for a day or even a whole season was a form of self-denial that would leave one feeling hungrier and less energetic, while still facing the same work and other obligations. And that's the point – to exercise self-denial and experience discomfort: reminding one of the frailty of human nature; offering opportunity to meditate by analogy (w.r.t. the hunger pangs) on man's constant need for Divine Grace (often not sensibly perceived); giving occasion to spiritually unite one's personal suffering, however slight, to Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.