John 21: 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
Today’s Action: Smart Fish Friday: Commit to weekly fish bought from sustainable stock.
In the first century, Jews fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. The original Christians were all Jewish and were used to the fasting as a spiritual discipline. They moved the fast days to Wednesdays and Fridays, because Judas engineered Jesus’ arrest on a Wednesday and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Most often that fast took the form of avoiding meat in the diet. In those days, meat was a luxury food. You either had to buy it in a market or you had to own enough land to keep cattle. On the other hand, anyone could grow vegetables or forage for them, and anyone could catch a fish in a lake or a stream. The point is that you could eat without money if you were poor. So meat was rich people’s food and fish was poor people’s food. That is why the most common form of fasting was to omit meat and eat fish. Eating Fish is a symbol of a more simple lifestyle, however it is important that the fish you eat is from sustainable stocks.
Consult the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) list. SMS the name of the fish to 079 499 8795 or download you own list from www.wwfsassi.co.za
Also, does packaged fish (tins or boxes) bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) endorsement? Is the tinned tuna “dolphin friendly”?
Pingback: Green Anglicans – Food