Monday, May 1, 2023

(optional) Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:11-18)

According to food guru Michael Pollan food habits are among the last to be acculturated.  Long after immigrants arrive in a new country, they and their descendants prefer the native foods of their homelands.  For this reason Simon Peter’s countrymen may be bewildered by his sharing the table of Gentiles in today’s first reading.  But, of course, there is more at stake than that.

Jews at the time of Jesus, as today, are almost identified by their refusal to eat pork.  Yet it is said that its prohibition is only the beginning of the kosher diet.  Probably the certainty that Jesus kept it made some disciples think that all his followers should do so as well.  But since the stoning of Stephen, the same followers were being increasingly alienated from Judaism.  In face of Gentile converts’ desire to eat their customary foods, the disciples are faced with a dilemma.  Would Jesus refuse Baptism to people simply because they eat foods that were forbidden Jesus’ ancestors?

Today we celebrate St. Joseph the Worker.   An honest carpenter, Joseph models many virtues like diligence and justice related to work.  As patron of workers, we can also see him as a model of assimilation and diversity.  Here’s the connection with a diverse diet.  Work since the industrial Revolution has brought people from different backgrounds together.  Joseph, a discerning person, would hardly reject them for the diet they kept.  He may not have eaten all their foods.  But as he invited the Magi from into his home, he probably would have little difficulty seeing their descendants attending Jesus’ church. 

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)

Food writer Michael Pollan criticizes the agricultural-industrial complex for polluting the American diet with corn-based products. He readily rolls out statistics to show that corn has long outdistanced wheat as America’s dietary mainstay. Pollan’s analysis raises the question whether Jesus, if he were to preach today, would say, “I am the bread of life.”

Do not doubt that he would. Whatever the universality of corn, well-made bread is still nutritious and delectable. Jesus further challenges contemporary assumptions like “the more, the better” and “what is convenient is also preferable.” He makes himself bread to be eaten in the Eucharist, but this food differs from what we put on the dinner table both in kind and quality. The Eucharist does not nourish us because it is bread for the body but because it is life for the soul. Its primarily spiritual substance lifts our minds and hearts to the divine love which they impart. Similarly, the word of God -- the Scriptures --provides rich spiritual nourishment.

Because they become the most life-giving of all food, quality bread and wine should be obtained for the Eucharist. As important, the Scriptures used in liturgies should be read from an attractive volume. For a while parishes used to make their own bread for the altar, but that practice seems to have proven impractical in the long run. Nevertheless, hosts of an appreciable size with the appearance, texture of well-made bread should be purchased whenever possible for their sign value. Likewise, a hearty, mellow wine should be obtained for consecration. Finally, reading the Scriptures from an I-Phone or missalette, although they still give life, does not indicate their preeminence in the order of knowledge and wisdom.