Fish on Fridays Solidarity

On Fridays my dad asks me to bring lunch back from town for us. I noticed that he started always asking for fish on Fridays.

Today, when he asked for fish, he said, "Catholics eat fish on Friday, don't they?"

I explained how abstaining from meat on Fridays is now an option. He said, "Oh, well when I was a kid in school we always had fish on Fridays for the Catholics."

It surprised me that rural schools in Alabama in the 50s would make such an effort for Catholics.

In any case, I'm happy my dad shows solidarity with me in my Catholic Friday penances.

I was just reading the Didache yesterday, and came upon this line: "Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but do you fast on Wednesdays and Fridays" (VIII, 1).

I remember my Armenian/Georgian coworker at the nursery always fasted and abstained on Wednesdays and Fridays, even though she was Catholic.