Eating & Drinking Liturgically: Communal Eating
By Sarah White,
Summer is here! And so are tons of social opportunities to share food with people. More open schedules, end-of-the-year celebrations, and picnic weather are quickly coming our way. So I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart, that also happens to be foundational to Chrisitan fellowship: communal eating.
In paragraph 1877 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, it says, “The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son.” It goes on to say, “This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole.”
In other words, we have a vocation as a collective humanity that we ought to live out, but a major way we live it out is through our personal vocations. So, while we are called to something together, it is still very necessary that we remain unique, in our vocations and our personalities.
This is super relevant to cooking for people outside of yourself. You may not cook like other people and you may have different tastes from other people—that’s a good thing. Your experience with food (read: culture, food allergies, region, etc.) is a wonderful addition to your cooking style. I encourage you to cook food that you love, with tastes that you love, because your love will come through in the food. If you stress about trying to cook for everyone else, in the ways that they prefer, that will show through too. Hint: The former approach is way, way, way better tasting than the latter.
In the next paragraph of The Catechism, 1878, it says, “all men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the union of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love. Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.”
Love of neighbor is expressed so simply and so deeply in sharing food. If you don’t know how to meet up with someone, invite them over to share a meal. Big, small, multiple courses, or fitting everything on one cutting board—it doesn’t matter. As The Catechism plainly states, love of neighbor is inseparable from love of God. And sharing food is a perfect step in that direction.
I also want to include an important side note on the need to share in communion with other people. Especially considering the last year-and-a-half, and especially if you are struggling to find community in the first place, know that there is nothing wrong with you for having difficulty not seeing people. It’s part of who we are: “The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation” (CCC 1879).
Read that last line again: In sharing life with other people, you are responding to your vocation. Maybe you’re in a season of wondering how your vocation and call to holiness currently match up, or what your vocation will be, or how to respond to the vocation that the Lord has called you into? A simple way to answer the call to holiness is to spend time with others.
Recipes
Taken from the cookbooks Drinking with the Saints and Cooking with the Saints
Saint John the Baptist, June 24
Known as the forerunner to Jesus Christ, whose mission was to proclaim that the Son of God was coming, and the one who baptized Jesus Himself in the Jordan River, Saint John the Baptist is a great saint to celebrate in communion with other people. He was eventually beheaded, but spent his life spreading the Gospel, calling people to repent of their sins, and baptizing them. You can add this dessert to your dinner on June 24th:
Saint John the Baptist Honey Cake
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 cup brewed coffee
3 large eggs, well beaten
½ cup orange juice
½ cup brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan (or whatever cake pan you have available—it will just affect the baking time) with non-stick spray. Sprinkle flour all along the bottom and sides and set aside.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, beat together the vegetable oil, honey, coffee, eggs and orange juice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add in the liquid. Whisk together until well combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan(s), filling only two-thirds. Set the pan(s) on a large baking sheet and place in the oven.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a tester can be placed in the center of the cake and comes out clean. Remove the pan(s) from the oven, and let them rest for 15 minutes before removing from the pan(s). Let them cool completely on cooling racks.
Saint Josemaría Escrivá, June 26
Saint Josemaría lived during the Spanish Civil War, and often had to hide from troops who had orders to kill priests. In the midst of the mayhem, he founded Opus Dei, a prelature of laypersons and clergy dedicated to the universal call to holiness and the sanctification of work. “The Work” is its current title, and has over 90,000 members from 80 different nationalities. This drink is a perfect toast to Father Josemaría, as the orange wheel represents the waterwheel at which a donkey fruitfully labors, symbolizing all the work Saint Josemaría inspired through Opus Dei.
The Mangy Donkey
2 oz brandy
½ oz dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
1 orange wheel
Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake forty times.
Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with an orange wheel.
Saint Paul, June 30
Ancient tradition holds that when Saint Paul was beheaded, his head bounced three times on the ground, and at each place it landed, a fountain gushed forth. To this day, the Trappist Monks of the Abbazia Tre Fontane (Monastery of the Three Fountains) are the keepers of this hallowed site. There is also a Belgian brewery that has named four of their beers after Saint Paul: a blond, special, double, and triple. Getting yourself some Belgian beer (which is commonly found in grocery stores) is a great way to toast to Saint Paul. You can also pick out a non-alcoholic beer: A list of top labels to choose from can be found here.
