As we watched basketball games this week, there were several commercials where fast food joints were promoting their fish sandwiches.
Angie turned to me and said, “I just figured out why they have so many fish sandwich commercials this year. It makes sense but I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out.”
I thought for a moment how much I liked the Culver’s Walleye Sandwich, realized they only offer it during this time of year, and then connected the dots to Lent and said, “Oh yeah, that never occurred to me either.”
Have you ever noticed how many meals Jesus had that had fish? Jesus fed fish to the 5,000. He had shore meals with the disciples after they were fishing. He asked for a piece of fish when he visited the disciples after his resurrection. Jesus ate a shore dinner for them before his ascension. You might think that it was Jesus’ favorite food but actually it was part of their culture – they lived right next to the Sea of Galilee and fish was a staple and is still a staple in Mediterranean diets. That’s one of the reasons Catholics only eat fish on Fridays and during Lent, because it’s a common meal that Jesus shared with his disciples. That tradition has had an impact upon modern culture as evidenced by all the commercials for fish this time of year!
You can imagine that Jesus shared a dinner that had fish at the last supper. The Last Supper was probably a full meal that the friends shared with one another, with the disciples not realizing it would be their last before Jesus’ death. There was probably fish, fruits, nuts, fresh vegetables, bread and wine. From that dinner, we have the institution of the sacraments we re-enact during communion.
Fish is more than sustenance - it’s also an important symbol. Fish was a symbol of Christianity in the first few centuries as this new religion grew.
(Image from Shutterstock ID #82123798)
Comments