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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 09 2010 at 9:09pm | IP Logged
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In all the reading we do about the saints, I have noticed that it is mentioned over and over how many saints ate very plain food, or ate very little, or did not eat until the sun went down.
I feel like food is one area in my life that can really get the upper hand of me. After a bad day, I want chocolate. Comfort foods are... comforting.
Every celebration seems to be tied to food.
What is it about food?? It seems to be right up there with power and money trying to take over God's place in our lives.
But what does "eating like a saint" look like, practically, in family life?
Is it all soup and bread? Or is it more of an attitude of thankfulness and moderation?
For some reason this has been heavily on my mind....
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 09 2010 at 9:46pm | IP Logged
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Well, I've always thought that it was wonderful that Jesus enjoyed celebrations (weddings, Passover, beachside barbecues), but it can be tempting to focus on food instead of on the people and the occasion.
I would say that most of our saints probably grew up with a liturgical calendar that included feast days as well as fast days. Denying themselves the pleasures of their favorite foods was a sacrifice they made for the good of their souls, or to free up more money for the work they were doing for others. This is a good practice to emulate, for sure. But, I think there are plenty of reasons to enjoy food and celebrations, as long as we are mindful of being thankful, as you mentioned.
It is easy to fall victim to any sin of overindulgence, of course, but it seems to me that it is up to us to act in moderation and to be mindful of the Good Lord, who gave us the food to begin with, and the reason we need to nourish our bodies - to glorify Him. We can't do that if we are run down and ill from malnutrition.
I think, too, that culture plays into this. After living five years in Italy, I am all about feeding the ones I love (!) and celebrating around the table. Eating together is so good for the family. Cooking together is great fun. Celebrating the liturgical year through food is wonderful, too. (Right, Jenn?) I am thrilled when my daughter helps me prepare a meal or when someone in my family tries and likes a previously-despised food. I love opening my home to our friends (particularly single friends and older friends with no family nearby) on Christmas, Easter and other special days. I hope they know that they are loved when they are met with hugs and smiles and (we hope) delicious food...they are honored and wanted guests. (I was stunned to discover that my daughter's godfather's parents, who live near us, were never invited anywhere for Christmas - their sons live far away. It broke my heart. They are here for every holiday now and it is just wonderful.)
There is a time and place for soup and bread (twice a week during the winter at my house...the family wants fresh bread every day!), and for the sacrifices that go along with preparing a simple meal. Lenten sacrifices tend to be of the food variety, for good reason.
I don't think there's just one way to eat like a saint. I know that many saints fasted and ate simply. That's a wonderful example. But...if it were up to me, and I had all the time and money in the world, I would cook for the homeless all the time (I do it as often as I can now) because I believe that feeding people (all, not just the homeless) and offering them hospitality is important. It gives them dignity and makes them feel loved. Everywhere else in life, people are shoved aside and made to feel unimportant, but when we share meals and stories, we are all God's children together.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 09 2010 at 10:19pm | IP Logged
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Less about the type of foods served and more about the focus on the food..
Some of the things regularly talked about here I think help. If you spend lots of time figuring out what to make for each meal every single day.. then it's taking an inordinate amount of time.
But meal plans.. from sitting down and planning specific meals or to a schedule of soup on wednesday, beef on thursday, vegetarian on friday, pasta on saturday, chicken on sunday etc.. will make the time spent on the meals much less on a daily basis and take away some of that emphasis on them, without needing to be austere in what we cook.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Teachin'Mine2
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| Posted: April 10 2010 at 7:27am | IP Logged
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Fasting is a very important part of our spiritual lives. We tend to feast a bit too much on the non-fast days though. 
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mom of one 13yo dd
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 10 2010 at 1:03pm | IP Logged
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I often think of "Babette's Feast" as an example of embracing the social nature of the meal, and try not to focus on the actual taste of the food.
The social aspect really comes to play, that someone wouldn't be able to tell if I liked one thing over another. I would eat all that I was served if I was a guest, and serve myself portions that wouldn't insult my host/ess.
Although I've read extreme measures, like Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha sprinkling ashes in her food, and was it St. Rose of Lima sprinkling hot pepper in hers? I have really liked the advice of St. Josemaria Escriva. He practiced more extreme forms, but he advised mortification in small ways:
He always said to not have one meal without mortifying yourself. But mortification is just doing little ways that wouldn't be noticed by others (again, the social aspect). Examples: not sprinkling salt to taste, not taking seconds of favorite food, leaving the table not completely full, delaying a drink for a minute or so. Outside of a meal, delay gratification for a few minutes or so, such as quenching thirst or a treat, so that even in the bites of chocolate you are practicing a bit of mortification....
Anyway, that has been helpful to me. I can't imagine doing extreme ways yet, but baby steps are more my style.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 10 2010 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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Thank you- this is all very helpful, especially reading about St. Josemaria Escriva. With my dd's very limited and restricted diet, I find myself continually mourning food at our house... what she can have, what she can't have. Her meals are very small, and she cannot have seconds. I do not eat things she cannot have in front of her. She is often hungry, and I often have to tell her it is not time to eat yet.
As a result, I day dream about food all day... it seems like such a big hurdle at our house right now. I am trying to adopt a new perspective towards it... more detached. My dd is happy and does not complain, so I seem to be the one with the problem 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 10 2010 at 10:10pm | IP Logged
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SeaStar wrote:
Thank you- this is all very helpful, especially reading about St. Josemaria Escriva. With my dd's very limited and restricted diet, I find myself continually mourning food at our house... what she can have, what she can't have. Her meals are very small, and she cannot have seconds. I do not eat things she cannot have in front of her. She is often hungry, and I often have to tell her it is not time to eat yet.
As a result, I day dream about food all day... it seems like such a big hurdle at our house right now. I am trying to adopt a new perspective towards it... more detached. My dd is happy and does not complain, so I seem to be the one with the problem |
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Oh, Melinda! I know this so well. My sons have food allergies and there is so much that is forbidden. There is a lot of "guilt" as a mother seeing what I can have vs. what they can have. I try to not eat in front of my sons what they can't have. But those restrictions are hard to watch for a mother, and I did the same as you, dreamed of the forbidden food!
I think the food allergies and intolerances and special diets are a mortification within themselves within a family. This is what a modern day saint looks like! We are obligated to think of food all the time, but in restricted ways, for health reasons. It's hard. 
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Eat like a Saint
