From Doubts to Dinner!

First of all, I wish that you and your family continue to have a blessed Easter season!  Remember, Easter is celebrated for the 50 days after Easter Sunday.  So don’t jump too quickly out of celebration mode!

This upcoming weekend, the second Sunday of Easter, the Church will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.  At Mass we will hear the Gospel of the doubting Thomas.  Remember that after the Resurrection, followers of Christ began to fear for their own lives.  People thought the Disciples stole the body of Jesus to somehow prove the Resurrection, even though many people actually saw the risen Jesus.  The fact is no one, not even the Disciples, expected that Jesus would actually walk around, speak, eat, and LIVE – especially after such a brutal execution.  It became such a confusing time for many of Jesus’ original followers that people began to question whether Jesus was the “real deal,” or whether he was just a good storyteller or at best a very convincing prophet.

The truth of the Resurrection is told in next Sunday’s Gospel.  It speaks of the Apostles gathered in the upper room – the same room where the Last Supper had been eaten.  There, in the midst of the confusion, Jesus came through the closed door (and our closed hearts) and made Himself known.  He convinced the fearful apostles that He had truly risen from the dead.  Thomas, a.k.a. “Doubting Thomas,” however, needed to see it to believe it.  Jesus helped Thomas believe by letting him touch the crucifixion scars of his hands, feet, and side.  Doubt no longer!  Doubt doesn’t help us!  Doubt can kill our faith!

From this, our families can learn a very important lesson about the destructive nature that doubt can have on our faith, especially as it relates to the Divine Mercy Sunday.  Doubt, motivated by a fear to believe the incredible, is really an offshoot of breaking the first commandment.  It puts in our mind the false idea that perhaps God isn’t so powerful after all.  Could God really rise from the dead?  Can He really change bread and wine into His Body and Blood?  Can He really forgive me of my sins and make me worthy to receive Him?  Can God heal my family’s divisions?  Can God help me to be faithful to my vows?  Does God have the power to call our children back to His table, even though they seem to have walked away from their faith?

The quick answer is: Of course He can!  God does indeed have the power to do all those things we question so readily!  In fact, God can even help us to become SAINTS, so that we can celebrate the eternal banquet with Him in Heaven.  We just have to trust in Him!

We can strengthen our trust in God's power by trusting in His mercy.  His mercy, which is God's strength, can change bread and wine into His Eucharistic Presence – His Body and Blood.  Without a doubt, His mercy can change us sinners into saints!  That is why I recommend we trust God’s power in the Sacrament of Penance (i.e. Confession).  If you haven’t been in a while, it’s probably because you’re afraid!  Perhaps you doubt the power of Christ’s priesthood to forgive sins, or maybe you think your sins can’t be forgiven.  Unfortunately, doubt can even make us delusional and think, “I’m not so bad; I don’t need to go to Confession.”  The fact is, those who go to confession aren’t just “sinners.”  Instead, they are what I like to consider saints in the making. 

On this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday, we should consider how doubt has affected relationships in our homes, our practice of the Faith, and our desire to become saints. 

Doubt affects all of us – including me!  Yes, there are times when I’m tempted to doubt.  I can sometimes doubt whether or not the Grace Before Meals movement will ever really take off.  Am I really helping families, or am I just wasting my time?  I can doubt whether or not the TV show will ever become a reality without the necessary corporate sponsors.  As you can see, doubt is very real – and destructive!

Do you know the remedy for this?  Do what Thomas did and reach out to touch Jesus by serving the poor, visiting the sick, caring for others, sharing the Faith with others, praying more fervently, and especially, receiving the Eucharist faithfully – the ultimate sign that God touches our lives!

As I mentioned, there are times when I have doubts about the Grace Before Meals movement.  I thank God that He touches my life through good Internet friends, such as the Fr. Roderick of SQPN and Greg Willits of Rosary Army.  They have reached out to us at Grace Before Meals to encourage us in our work, and now we’re working together to provide families with some “webisodes” of Grace Before Meals before we have the opportunity to film the TV show itself.  I haven’t seen the first episode yet, but I have no doubt in their ability to put together a fun clip of our evangelization efforts.  Fr. Roderick and Greg, along with our Grace Before Meals team (Tim, Shelly, Melissa, Curtis, George, Scott, and so many others), give me the confidence I need to continue this mission, so we can dispel the doubt in our lives and celebrate our family meals with the people we love – our family and God! 

Let’s get rid of doubt, and let’s have some dinner instead!

Liturgically Colored Sauces and BOGO Wines

As I mentioned, I’m working together with SQPN and Rosary Army to provide some webisodes, and we’ve already put together four or five mini clips.  The featured recipes for those shows are Liturgically Colored Sauces.  Sound tempting?  Stay tuned to watch these clips.  We’ll make them available as soon as possible.

I also had the chance to connect with another great group of people—BOGO Wines.  Bill (the owner) and I spoke about the possibility of a collaboration spreading positive family culture, especially through our celebration of food.  I’d like to encourage everyone to visit Bill at BOGO Wines and sample his fruits of the vine for your family celebrations.  Not only do they have great tasting wines, they donate 10% of their proceeds to help fund adult stem cell research.  You’ll be very impressed to see the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on each of his bottles, too!  Just read their story, and you’ll be as excited as I am about their work – and their products!

Here’s a recipe that I put together that features a BOGO white wine.  It is a fun and simple recipe, especially if you have any leftover Easter ham!  For the recipe, [click here].

Jesus, we trust in you!

Go ahead and read a little about this weekend’s Divine Mercy Celebration.  It’s an impressive account of how God wants us to doubt no longer, but truly trust in His mercy and love. 

Let us pray: 

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!”

Ask Fr. Leo for fatherly advice.
Any submissions may be used in future Grace Before Meals publications.