Do our food and drink habits glorify God?

By Laurie Hallstrom

Trying to think outside the box of frozen breaded fish filets, I turned to the book, “The Lenten Cookbook” by David Geisser with essays by Scott Hahn. 

Geisser is from Zurich, Switzerland, and is a former member of the pope’s Swiss Guard. He is listed as one of the leading chefs in his country. Among his other cookbooks are “The Vatican Cookbook” and “The Vatican Christmas Cookbook.” This book is beautifully illustrated with photos by Roy Matter of Zurich. It also contains classic historical paintings. (Sophia Institute Press, copyright 2021, $29.95) 

Hahn is more familiar to readers as a best-selling author, speaker, and teacher. He is the author of numerous books including “The Lamb’s Supper” and “Reasons to Believe.” Hahn is also the founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio.

The book contains recipes for breakfasts, soups, salads, collations (small meals), main dishes, and breads. However, it is the beginning pages which caught my attention. The first 51 pages are dedicated to the history of fasting. Like other Catholic customs, what we observe today is the culmination of many traditions over the centuries.

Truly, what and when we eat or do not eat during Lent are as synonymous with the season as prayer and almsgiving. According to Hahn, fasting on every Friday is part of universal church law as a penitential day that ought to be marked by abstaining from meat. Rome gave local bishops’ conferences flexibility in deciding how the day should be observed. He acknowledges abstinence from eating the meat of land animals has relaxed over time and includes a notable exception — eating alligator in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

In 1966, St. Paul VI, then pope, shifted the emphasis from prescribed fasts to voluntary ones. The penalty of mortal sin was removed from the observance of abstaining from meat on Fridays. Rather than keeping it a sin, Church Fathers believed Christians would freely choose self-denial of meat along with penitential prayer and fasting. Of course, abstaining from meat is an obligation on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent from age 14 until death. Fasting is for people ages 21 to 59 with exceptions to avoid weakening the body.

“While the intention was to begin a new era of self-chosen Friday penances, the result was that most of the faithful heard that meatless Fridays were over and that was that,” said Hahn. He added every Friday in the year should be a little Good Friday fast and every Sunday a little Easter feast. These rituals would organize our lives around salvation history and make us conscious “every time we think about munching on a snack or sipping a drink.”

He acknowledges that many people give up sweets or alcohol for Lent, but explained foregoing smartphones and social media are rising in popularity. He also suggested expanding fasting to another day of the week — Wednesday — commemorating Judas’ betrayed Jesus.

“The point of fasting, after all, is to deprive ourselves enough — really to feel it — enough, that is, to make us feel a little desperate, to make us rely on God for spiritual sustenance as we suffer just a little from lack of physical sustenance,” said Hahn. “Further, the Lenten fast should be training our wills to rein in our unruly desires.” Following the historical accounts of fasting, the bulk of the cookbook is, of course, meatless recipes and I have attached three I am looking forward to trying during this Lenten season. 

(Artwork supplied by Sophia Institute Press)