Use family recipes to prepare a feast of faith

Published: November 25, 2006

By Cassandra Poppe
Special to Arkansas Catholic

The Poppe family plays a faith-based board game. From left, Cassandra Poppe watches as son, C.J. moves a game piece while husband, Jay, and daughters Shannon and Logan await their turn.

The Poppe family plays a faith-based board game. From left, Cassandra Poppe watches as son, C.J. moves a game piece while husband, Jay, and daughters Shannon and Logan await their turn.

We all have heard how family mealtime helps to strengthen family bonds.

Food nourishes us, strengthens us and brings us comfort. And when a family comes together to share a meal, it builds trust, love and loyalty between family members as well. It is the same with our faith.

The Catholic Church has given parents the grave obligation to feed and nourish their children's souls with the healthy truths of our faith.

A faith that is nourished and celebrated within the home is far better for our souls than just grabbing quick "snacks" on Sunday. Parish Religious Education, while important, is never enough to prepare our children to face today's challenges. The main course must be served at home.

So what should parents do if they find themselves poorly equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to prepare a feast of faith at home?

Gather your cookbooks: Make sure you have these basic books to get you started. You will need an approved Catholic Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a book or books on the lives of the saints. A book on Church history would be helpful as well. I recommend "Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History" by H.W. Crocker III. All of the necessary ingredients for a memorable feast are contained in these sources.

Take cooking classes together: We cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot teach what we do not understand. Make Sunday a day to spend time studying the faith as a family. Or attend adult education classes if they are offered in your parish. The more seriously you take your faith, the more seriously your children will take it as well.

Plan your meals: Purchase a large family calendar. This will be your menu planner. After you have marked all obvious holidays and other days you usually celebrate, dig up your old family records and mark sacramental anniversaries such as baptisms, first confessions, First Communions, confirmations and marriages.

When these days come up, be sure to say special prayers for the family member whose sacramental anniversary it is and acknowledge the importance of these events.

Make sure to mark all Marian feast days on your calendar as well. After all, "Honor thy mother" means honoring Mary too.

Research each feast day with your children and find out why it is special, then celebrate them in an appropriate way. For instance, have a white birthday cake with light blue frosting for Mary's birthday.

Like any good chef, be sure to take into account the tastes of your family members. Who are their favorite saints? Note these feast days and those of their patron saints on the calendar. Honor these days by giving small faith-related gifts: a medal, holy cards, historical fiction book on a saint, religious coloring book, or other items appropriate for your child's age.

Do not make these days another birthday; keep the gifts faith-oriented, modest and meaningful. The meat of making our faith real is found in the lives of the martyrs.

Challenge your children. Give them the real history of our faith and of the Church that shows them that Catholicism is something to defend and be proud of. It is not something that needs to conform to others' beliefs to make it more palatable. It is rich, flavorful and satisfying all on its own.

Accent the flavor with fun: Children hunger for family time, so make Sunday night a family game night. Pop some popcorn, heat up the hot chocolate and have a blast. Start a collection of faith-based games and learn about your faith together. A great selection of Catholic family games for all ages can be found at the Web site: http://www.catholicchild.com.

And for dessert -- pray the rosary as a family. This is where hearts convert, souls are saved and miracles happen. In Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae," he challenges us to present the rosary to children in ways that foster a love for this devotion.

"If the rosary is well presented, I am sure that young people will once more surprise adults by the way they make this prayer their own and recite it with the enthusiasm typical of their age group." (Section 42)

If you are unsure how to introduce the rosary to your younger children, there are many aids readily available to families on the Internet.

This, of course, is just a simple meal outline. Remain true to the ingredients God has given us. Add to them your own traditions and cultural touches to spice things up, and pretty soon you will be able to prepare many feasts of faith for the whole family to enjoy. Dig in!

Cassandra Poppe is a wife, mother and religious education teacher at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Barling.

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