Food & Family Fills Week 1 in 2009
I’ve heard it said (and I actually believe it to a degree) that the first few days of the year set a tone for the rest of the year. I’m not superstitious, but there is some truth to this logic. This can motivate and encourage us to start off the year on the best foot possible.
If that’s the case, then I firmly believe that God will truly bless our Grace Before Meals family. Now is the time for you and your family to take the necessary steps to make sure this year is a blessed one.
My family rang in the New Year with all the bells and whistles, but also with the whispering of prayers. As always there was lots of fun, food, and family.
My aunt and mother sampling a pre-dinner dessert:
Filipino fried dough called “piripit.”
Joining my family for dinner was our good friend Fr. DeAscanis. He’s an excellent, smart and faithful priest. My family really looks up to him…in more ways than one!
The next day, although a bit more subdued, was nonetheless filled with family, food, faith and fun. It began with a very pleasant drive on an unbelievably open highway to Washington DC. I cooked sweet champagne beef for Channel WUSA 9. Following the Grace Before Meals principals, I supplied a bite-sized theological tip in the form of a possible New Year’s resolution to spend more time with the family and offered a blessing over the food before the cast and camera crew devoured it.
Chris, the PR representative from Maroon PR who assisted me on this shoot, joined me for breakfast. All that food talk so early in the morning made us hungry. With God’s providence and a little navigational help, we happened on a DC institution:Steak and Eggs on Wisconsin Avenue.
Chris and I celebrated the New Year with the owner. He was genuinely happy to see a priest come to his restaurant in the New Year and welcomed us with open arms.
We both ordered the “Old Favorite,” a great way to start the day and the New Year.
Chris joined me in saying grace, which included a special blessing over this establishment. As soon as we started eating, the place became jam-packed with fruitful business. The owner and his stepsons were confident that the crowd was a blessing from God and a direct response to our prayers.
Upon my return to the seminary, I had a chance to do my annual closet clean out. This annual prayer reminds me of just how much clutter can enter our lives and how diligent we should be about collecting useless possessions.
Despite the media rants about the economic downturn, I firmly believe that cleaning out our closets may offer a humble reminder that we may have enough – in some cases too much – to really complain about financial matters. We may not be rich. We may not have ultra modern gadgets or the latest fashions. We may even bear a cross of financial struggles that fill us with some anxiety about paying bills and make us work extra hard. But, in the long run our faith in God’s presence will carry us through this New Year. With a prayerful perspective, we can begin the New Year recognizing how God has blessed us with just enough to make it through another year. He truly won’t let us down this year if we place our trust in Him, rather than the media’s hyperactive retelling of stock market woes.
And if you’re wondering whether I celebrated Mass on New Year’s Day, it being a Holy Day of Obligation – of course I did! I had the best blessing of that day when I celebrated Mass in our seminary chapel for a group of young men, including three seminarians that I knew from my previous parish assignment.
I pray that your first week of the New Year provides you an opportunity to renew relationships with your family, friends, food, and faith. If this was not the case for your New Year, please know that with each day God provides a new opportunity to make new resolutions. God’s grace isn’t limited to one day out of the calendar year. It’s available anytime you ask for it: before getting out of bed, before work, before sleep, and before meals.
Sweet Champagne-braised Beef
I created this recipe because I wanted to show how champagne, although traditionally used for toasting a New Year, can also be a fun and tasty way to sauce up flavors in your celebration meals. I cooked this for a WUSA9 News segment on New Year’s Day.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the dish itself because after I blessed the food, the crew ate it all before I could snap a photo. So, you’ll just have to take my word. It was a healthy and tasty way to begin a New Year.
Click here for the recipe
Remembering the Virgin Mother of God prays for us!
We often forget that Mary’s prayers provide us great grace to help us become better Christians. Catholics begin each New Year commemorating Mary as the Mother of God. In so doing, we don’t limit our resolutions to one day of the year. With grace, we can improve, strengthen and make new resolutions every day of our lives.
Let us Pray:
Father, source of light in every age, the Virgin Mary conceived and bore Your Son who is called Wonderful God, Prince of Peace. May her prayer, the gift of a mother’s love, be Your people’s joy through all ages. May her response, born of a humble heart, draw Your Spirit to rest on Your people. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (From the Roman Sacramentary)
Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday (1/8): "All wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of Jesus' mouth"
Scripture: Luke 4:14-22 (alternate reading: Mark 6:34-44)
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read; 17 and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." 20 And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 22 And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"
Meditation: In Jesus we see the grace of God in action. His gracious words brought hope, joy, and favor to those who were ready to receive him. Where did Jesus began his public ministry? In his own land of Galilee where he was reared from his youth in Nazareth. His proclamation of the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah brought wonder to his kin and townsfolk. Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to those oppressed by sin and evil (see Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus awakened their hope in the promises of God. They, in turn, received his words favorably and wondered what would become of "Joseph's son". Their hearts were hungry for the word of life and they looked to Jesus with anticipation and wonder. Do you look to Jesus with confidence and hope in the fulfillment of all God's promises?
What did Jesus come to do for us? He came to set us free from the worst tyranny possible – slavery to sin and the fear of death, and the eternal destruction of both body and soul. God's power alone can save us from emptiness and poverty of spirit, from confusion and error, and from hopelessness and the fear of annihilation. The gospel of salvation is "good news" for us today. Do you know the joy and freedom of the gospel?
"Lord Jesus, you are the fulfillment of all our hopes and dreams. Through the gift of your Holy Spirit you bring us grace, life, truth, and freedom. Fill me with the joy of the gospel and inflame my heart with love and zeal for your kingdom and your will for my life."
Psalm 72:1-2, 14-17
1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice!
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live, may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may men blossom forth from the cities like the grass of the field!
17 May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed!
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(c) 2009 Don SchwagerSphere: Related Content
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