Grace Before Meals

When the family was visiting a priest friend in Arkansas last month, we spent some time looking at a few photo albums of his. In one of the albums, my wife and I noticed a photo of a priest friend of his, (they studied in Rome together) who we just read about in the Summer 2010 edition of Faith and Family Magazine. His name is Fr. Leo Patalinghug. He recently gained notoriety on the Food Network for beating chef Bobby Flay in a cook-off. Fr. Leo has magnified in his own life, what we're all supposed to be doing in ours, using our God-given "talents" (both natural and divine) for the kingdom.
An article in the Arkansas Catholic wrote: "What I try to do is have parish missions that bring families together," Father Patalinghug said. "Do we have something for the whole family? We call it the Mass, but we have something extra ... it's food. "In the fast-food mentality, we need to spend time with the people we love. ... If we would be more like Jesus and feed people, even if they're our enemies, it's a sign of love," he said.
Patalinghug has appeared on the Food Network's "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," "ABC World News with Charles Gibson" and "Fox & Friends Weekend."
More recently, the Feb. 5 online edition of Psychology Today referenced a study by The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University that proved Father Patalinghug is onto something big. The study found that the number one factor against an increase in addictions and substance abuse was a regular family meal. A decade earlier, a Cornell University study made a similar discovery."

Given the charism of the IHM parish here in New Melle, Fr. Leo would be a great witness to echo what Fr. Stoltz is always reminding us about, of the importance of meals together as a family. Here is a link to Fr. Leo's website "Grace Before Meals." And here is a link to a clip that I just came across today (which prompted this blog) regarding Fr. Leo's recent appearance on the 700 club. Who knows? Maybe he might find his way out to our parish some day.