Eating & Drinking Liturgically: Detaching Morals from Eating
By Sarah White
It is vitally important that we understand that consuming food is not a moral experience. This is, unfortunately, something many of us have grown up with and believed to be true for decades. Take a look at the conversation surrounding diets and you will see how closely morality is associated with eating food:
“I was good today and ordered a salad for lunch.”
“No seconds for me tonight, I had way too much bread earlier.”
“I have been horrible this week. Don’t even ask me what I had for dinner last night.”
We judge ourselves to be good or bad based on what we eat. If we eat something that we perceive as “bad” we are in the doghouse, only to be redeemed through some sort of “good” behavior, which varies vastly. Not only are we operating under subjective and inconsistent perceptions––changeable at any time based on other peoples’ food consumption attitudes or the culture’s ever-changing dialogue about healthy food––but we put ourselves in the “bad” category in which no one else suffers but ourselves.
It is a heavy weight that too many people carry. It weighed on my shoulders for years too, until my eyes were opened by the grace of the Holy Spirit through a spiritual director’s testimony on living a rightly ordered life when it comes to food. After that, I slowly gave up those weights. I took them off my shoulders, and handed them to the Father, who said, “These are so heavy, my daughter. You have been carrying these for so long. Let me show you something new.” And then, He did. Slowly, kindly, and with my permission. He kept leading me to people, cookbooks, friendships, and spiritual peace that aided in developing a healthier relationship with food, with my body, and with God. Besides my conversion to the faith, it has been one of the greatest transformations I’ve experienced.
If we view food as a gift from God, then it is not ours to assign morals to. It is simply ours to celebrate and receive. If someone were to give us a gift, let’s say a bouquet of flowers, we don’t sit there analyzing it, critiquing its flaws, dwelling on how it makes our house look better or worse. We just love it for the gift that it is and the light it brings to the room. We have learned how to grow and prepare food, yes, but we did not create the very existence of food in the first place. That was God. Our own perceptions of its goodness or badness can melt away because it’s from God, not from us.
I know that many simply say “food is a gift,” and stop there. But how do we approach it without misusing it and while respecting our bodies? The answer is two-fold, just like the question: in moderation…through God’s grace and mercy. Moderation is important: it allows us to avoid the abuse of many things, especially food. Because it is true––too much of a good thing makes it not that good. I’m a die-hard chocolate lover, but I couldn’t eat a whole batch of brownies because the last bites wouldn’t be nearly as good as the first, and my stomach would hate me the next day. In directing your life to be rightly ordered, you can start in many different places––particularly by building upon the virtue of prudence––but each place needs the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. When it comes to nurturing a rightly ordered relationship with food, I recommend reading about food in Scripture, reading about what life looks like when food is rightly ordered in your life (try here and here, to start).
He gave us food because He saw it as very good. He allowed us to grow, cultivate, store, prepare, cook, and celebrate it because it is all a good thing; something meant to bring us around a table to celebrate Him as we nourish our bodies, which are made in the image and likeness of Him. If we let that be our consistent understanding of food, instead of the subjective “good” and “bad,” it changes everything.
Recipes
Taken from the cookbooks Drinking with the Saints and Cooking with the Saints
Saint Rita, May 22
Saint Rita dreamed of becoming a nun from a young age, but was married off to a troubled man at age 12 instead, living as a wife and mother for eighteen years. As her story goes, upon the news of her husband’s murder, her twin sons were openly plotting revenge for his death. Saint Rita prayed to God that her sons’ lives be taken before they commit a mortal sin. Both sons died a year later, fully reconciled to God and the Church. Her incorrupt body is in the basilica of Cascia today, and she is known as the patron saint for impossible causes. She’s also the namesake to one of my favorite cocktails of all time:
Saint Rita Cocktail
1 ½ oz tequila
¾ oz Saint Germain
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Pour all ingredients together into a shaker filled with ice and shake.
Strain into a cocktail glass after salting the rim (you can use sugar, if you prefer).
Garnish with a wedge of lime.
Saint Germanus, May 28
Saint Germanus was a Benedictine monk for most of his life. He was chosen to be the bishop of Paris in 555, and had a successful time in that position of leadership, encouraging the king to become actively Christian as well as promoting the faith throughout Paris. There is a neighborhood in Paris that still bears his name, which is also where the church that was built in his name stands today. To celebrate this saint, you would typically make any cocktail that goes with Saint Germain liqueur. However, for a non-alcoholic option, you could make a slightly adjusted
Saint Germain Non-Alcoholic Cocktail
2 oz. alcohol-free sparkling wine
1 ½ oz. simple sugar
2 oz. club soda
Lemon twist for garnish
Stir all liquid ingredients into a tall drinking glass filled with ice, mixing completely.
Garnish with the lemon twist and serve.
Saint Joan of Arc, May 30
Saint Joan of Arc is a powerful saint to pray to for personal intercession. At age 13, she received messages from Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret that foretold events in France and what her role would be: to assist King Charles VII in the army. After her 12-month military campaign, Britain declared defeat in the war. She was eventually captured during an attack in Paris, put on trial for crimes she did not commit, and burned at the stake as punishment. She is famously known for asking the cross she was gazing at to be lifted higher as the flames began to overtake her. To celebrate her courageous life, you can be courageous in the kitchen and make Crepes Cake.
Crepes Cake
8 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons of sugar
¾ cup and 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries for topping
Combine egg yolks, sugar, flour and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Combine the milk and butter in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat, and let it cool. Slowly stir in the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture, blending well.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and a pinch of sugar until stiff. Gently fold in the egg whites into the egg-sugar mixture. Heat a crepe pan (or any flat pan) over medium-low heat, and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter starts to sizzle, add about 3 tablespoons of batter to the pan, swirl the batter around, and cook the crepe slowly. When it puffs up and turns golden, slip it out of the pan onto a plate, and sprinkle it with a little sugar. Repeat until you have 5 crepes.
Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, and add about 1 tablespoon of butter. When the butter starts to sizzle, swirl in the remaining batter and cook until it puffs up and turns golden. Slip it out of the skillet and onto the stacked crepes. Cool the skillet, and put it on top of the crepe stack to deflate it. Slice, and serve while hot. Top with berries of your choice and some sprinkled sugar.
