Good Friday fish sales brisk
Good Friday is described as the day of “greatest grief” for Christians. Many traditions and superstitions are associated with the day. In Belize, many people avoid swimming in the sea or river, set eggs in glasses to try and see the future, or look for flowers on the ruda plant to bring good fortune. Perhaps the most widespread tradition is eating fish on Good Friday. But do those of us who shun red meat on this day really understand how the practice came about, why we do it, or where this custom originated? News 5’s Patrick Jones went in search of the mystery of the Good Friday fish this afternoon.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Business was brisk at fish stands across the commercial capital today as housewives stocked up on their Good Friday supply of fish. It’s an Easter tradition, right alongside the Easter Bunny, hot cross buns and bikini bash. And while not many people knew the real meaning or origins of the practice, they are quite content to keep it going.
Rosalie Staines
“Well I was brought up a Catholic and from when I was a child, I mean my mother used to insist that we ate fish on Good Friday. But I eat fish all the time, and tomorrow I’m planning to make some gumbo, seafood really so it doesn’t have to be fish, it can be any type of seafood.”
Jerry, Fish Vendor
“Good Friday dah Lent and thing, so you eat the fish and you noh fu eat meat and things so. They usually tell we, and we believe in God and things so we eat the fish on Good Friday and during the Lent.”
Sandra Daley, Fish vendor
“Well to me, I more feel like it’s a tradition you know, part of the Bible, right. Remember the last supper with the disciples.”
Rev. Leroy Flowers, St. Mary’s Parish Priest
“Biblically, there is no Biblical base for it as such, that you’re not to eat meat, because that is not the kind of God that we worship. The God that we worship is a God of love, the God that we worship is a God of service, the God that we worship is a forgiving, loving God, and that is really what Christians are called to do.”
Theologians trace the practice back to the second century. Canon Leroy Flowers of the Anglican Diocese says while it is not rooted in scriptures, fish for dinner on Good Friday is an important part of the Christian culture.
Rev. Leroy Flowers
“Christians now, having accepted Jesus, accepted Jesus’ mission have to ask God, am I fulfilling that mission? But I have got to do that by being nearer to God through prayer and worship and fellowship, so the fasting becomes an integral part of the Christian experience. And so if you eat less, if you eat and you don’t eat meat, because the whole idea is that well you are eating flesh, and Jesus’ flesh was sacrificed for us. So instead, you revert to fish, so it’s a tradition, it has nothing to do, because if you eat meat on Good Friday, doesn’t mean you’re going to go to hell. That’s not the kind of God that we worship.”
But fish on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent, as practiced by Roman Catholics and other denominations, has become a very expensive tradition. This morning, News 5 checked out prices, which ranged from two dollars and fifty cents per pound to a whopping seven dollars per pound. But whether by tradition or devout Christian belief, people were shelling out the big bucks for their seafood.
Douglas Robinson, Fisherman
“Any fish, as long as dah fish. Because when they can’t get the fish they go and they buy the tuna. So that’s still fish.”
Patrick Jones
“What kind of fish people the buy this year?”
Douglas Robinson
“Well you got snappers. These are yellow tail snappers, once they get red snappers or so, people normally go for red snappers. But fish in general dah weh they normally eat.”
Rev. Leroy Flowers
“It’s more difficult to get fish these days, it’s more expensive to get fish these days. I must confess to you that as a priest I haven’t had fish during this Lent season at all. But does that make me any less a Christian than the brother who every Wednesday and every Friday, and who tomorrow will have fish? No it does not because that is not the essence of our faith. Jesus reminds us very vividly, it’s not what goeth into a man the defileth a man, it’s what cometh out of him, from our heart, that is really the essence of our faith.”
Patrick Jones
“So tomorrow if I end up eating chicken or beef, have I committed a sin?”
Rev. Leroy Flowers
“No you have not by any stretch of the imagination. And this is the wonderful thing about our God, because he doesn’t tell us what we are to eat what we are not to eat. See Paul reminds us that we are not to offend one another, but not because the brother does that means that is a sin, because in reality that is not the God that we worship.”
So whether you’re doing eating it for spiritual reasons, or simply because it’s one hell of a delicious and healthy dish, enjoy your fried, baked, grilled, salt, or jerk fish…and have a safe and enjoyable Easter. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Along with your fish, we hope you’ve got your supply of hot-crossed buns ready for the holiday weekend.
