Priest's mission starts with getting people to the dinner table

(CNS photo/Chaz Muth)

By Carol Zimmermann | Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- For Father Leo Patalinghug, faith and food go hand in hand, or in cooking terms, they blend; there is no trick to folding one into the other.
"The idea of food in faith is implicit in our Scriptures.It's implicit in our liturgical calendar," he said, also adding that without question it's a key component of the Mass.
The 45-year-old Filipino-American, known as the cooking priest, has made the blending of those two worlds his life's work with his apostolate, "Grace Before Meals," which aims, as he puts it: "to bring families to the dinner table and bring God to the table."
He not only does a cooking show on the Eternal Word Television Network called "Savoring our Faith," but he also travels across the country giving parish workshops and speaks at conferences, on radio programs and via social media about the need for families to celebrate not just Catholic feast days but everyday meals together. He also has written three books (including "Epic Food Fight: A Bite-Sized History of Salvation") and is currently working on two more.

Thought-provoking books on an everyday topic

(CNS photos)

These two slim books serve up substantial food for thought about the sacred at the family dinner table.

First, Susan Muto's "Table of Plenty: Good Food for Body and Spirit" offers inspiring stories, reflections and recipes garnered from her Italian-American childhood. Her mother Helen, a full-time homemaker, adhered to "slow food movement" principles long before their modern "discovery." She approached cooking as an activity to be shared and savored itself, as much as the meal it produced.
The book's pages are redolent with Helen's spicy chicken cacciatore, eggplant bruschetta, simple rustic bread and lemon meringue pie for dessert. Recipes for these and many other dishes are included, but Muto's real focus is how mealtimes can be rich spiritual experiences. This is something she learned from both her mother and her maternal grandmother, whom she describes as "two vivacious women who reverenced good food for God's sake."