Food That Nourishes

THE SUBJECT of food may not be the first thing that comes to mind when reflecting on the vocation of a person called to religious life today. But that theme is precisely the focus of a letter sent to all Franciscan Friars Minor by the head of their Order, Fr. Marco Tasca. The Minister General, who hails from the northern Italian city of Padua, wrote the 14 page letter in Lent this year as the first in a series of reflections that he’ll be dedicating to the subject of solidarity and changing lifestyles within the Franciscan family.

 

Feeding the Planet

 

The particular event that inspired his reflection on the role of food in the life of the Church was the Universal Exhibition that is taking place in nearby Milan this year on the theme Feeding The Planet, Energy For Life. The world fair, which runs from 1 May to 31 October, is exploring the key questions of providing safe, nutritious, sufficient food and clean water for all, while respecting the balance of our natural environment.

While we know that global food production is enough to feed all of the people on the planet, the statistics show that over 800 million men, women and children still go to bed hungry at night. At the same time, both developed and developing countries are increasingly struggling to deal with diseases connected to obesity and overeating, one of the plagues of our modern world.

Plenty of food for thought there, mused Fr. Marco, as he sat down to reflect on these crucial issues through the lens of Pope Francis’ call for a Church which is “out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” “Between food and spirituality,” he tells his fellow Franciscans in the opening paragraph, “there has always been a close and inseparable link.” As the saying goes, ‘we are what we eat,’ and at the heart of our Christian identity is the relationship we have with ‘our daily bread,’ both the food on our tables and the spiritual bread of the Eucharist. Those who are called to religious life, Fr. Marco says, must be courageous prophets and pioneers who share in the daily challenges of their people, from the struggle to put food on their table, to the hunger to find God in their lives.

 

People first

 

Franciscans, as Fr. Marco notes, are especially known for their life of poverty and simplicity, following in the footsteps of the ‘poverello’ or ‘poor man of Assisi,’ as St. Francis is often called here in Italy. Just as Jesus sent out the first disciples, telling them to sell everything they had and “take nothing for the journey” as they set out to preach the Gospel, so Francis renounced all his family wealth and urged his followers to do the same. Franciscans today understand that vow of poverty as a radical call “in an age of unbridled materialism and consumerism, to focus on putting not things, but people and the needs of others, especially the poor, before all else as we go on through our consecrated life.”

However, do Franciscans today still live up to that reputation of frugality and care for the poor which has been such an important part of their tradition for the past eight centuries? That’s the big question that Fr. Marco poses in his letter to his confrères, asking them how it might be possible to find new and creative ways of changing their lifestyles, their eating habits and their ways of using the earth’s resources. For most men in the Order today, Fr. Marco points out, food simply is something that appears miraculously on the scene at mealtimes and disappears again on a large metal trolley when the meal has ended. Few friars, he says, ever “get their hands dirty” or involve themselves in the preparation and serving of the food that is at the heart of community life.

 

Showing we care

 

Yet, as Fr. Marco continues in his letter, we know that Jesus himself, after his Resurrection, ate and drank with his disciples, and on at least one occasion, prepared a meal for them with his own hands. In St. John’s Gospel (21:9-13) we read of the moving and profoundly human way in which Our Lord revealed himself to the disciples who had returned to their fishing boats on Lake Galilee in despair following the Crucifixion. “When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.” The obvious references to the Eucharist, Fr. Marco reflects, have overshadowed the new and practical ways in which the Risen Lord takes concrete care of his disciples, delighting in restoring them in both body and spirit. Preparing food, he says, which in the majority of our monasteries is left to the professionals, is not something that we should avoid, or, worse still, treat with contempt. Instead, it is a way of showing care towards our brothers, he says, and of nurturing them in body and in spirit.

Furthermore, sharing food and drink is an important way of developing friendships and strengthening relationships, in families and in the life of religious communities. Often it is the only time of the day to exchange experiences, to seek advice and to listen to the needs of others. Eating together, Fr. Marco insists, is a gesture of both material and spiritual significance, as we create communion and take responsibility for each other. As we break bread together, we open our eyes and our hearts to each other, just as Jesus did with his disciples during the meal at Emmaus.

 

You shall not waste

 

Another section of the letter is dedicated to the problem of wasted food, which Fr. Marco describes as “one of the most dramatic scandals of our times.” It’s a problem that concerns big supermarkets and restaurants, seeking to make us consume more and more, while throwing away what is seen as out of date or less desirable. But on a smaller scale, it’s also a problem that concerns each one of us, and what we throw out of our fridges or kitchen cupboards. Pope Francis has spoken often about the scandal of wasted food that has become an accepted cog in the chain of our consumer lifestyles. “We should all remember, however,” he warned during his general audience of 5 June 2013, “that throwing away food is like stealing from the table of the poor and the hungry!” For Franciscans in particular, Fr. Marco says, ‘you shall not waste’ should be seen as an extra commandment, because every time a brother wastes precious food, water, or energy resources, he is wasting part of God’s creation and making the earth poorer and less hospitable for future generations.

 

Mostaccioli biscuits

 

Fr. Marco dedicates another part of his letter to the figure of St. Francis, who lived at a time when the practise of regular fasting and feasting was much more common than it is today. In those days, greed was seen as the first of the seven deadly sins that people should struggle against, since all the other sins would follow in its wake. Yet Francis also understood the importance of creating community by sharing food with his friends, listening first to the needs of others, rather than worrying about following the letter of the law. St. Bonaventure, the 7th Minister General of the Friars Minor, summed up his attitude succinctly when he wrote that the founder of the Order displayed “austerity towards himself,” but “humanity towards his neighbour,” adding that the saint was an example and an inspiration to others “not only when fasting, but also when eating.” Fr. Marco also recalls the popular tale of how Francis had a particular passion for a type of almond biscuit, first baked for him by a wealthy Roman noblewoman, Jacopa de’Settesoli, who became one of his most devoted followers. The story goes that Francis was so fond of these ‘mostaccioli’ biscuits (still sold in Assisi today) that even on his deathbed he dictated a letter to be sent to Friar Jacopa, as he called her, informing her that he was fading fast and asking her to bring some to the Porziuncola church where he was laid, along with a burial gown for his funeral.

 

Inclusion and sharing

 

Fr. Marco concludes his letter by noting that the Friars Minor are now present in 63 countries across the globe, in varying cultural and economic contexts, in which the themes of food safety and food security have widely differing significance. Yet the figure of St. Francis stands as an example for all friars today, through his focus on inclusion and sharing everything he had, especially with those who had least of all. Fr. Marco urges Franciscan communities in wealthier nations to ask what they have to share with their brothers in other places who are most in need today. Above all, he says, let us remember to give thanks to God every day for the food on our tables and the communion we share, as we make each mealtime a moment to nurture our bodies, our spirits and our fraternal relationships.