It’s the moment everyone’s been waiting for!  The NEW website launches tomorrow, November 1!  Aside from just “looking prettier,” this website is reorganized and will feature the latest news, more ways to share in upcoming events, more of Fr. Leo’s exclusive recipes, the newest videos, and even ways to stay in touch with Fr. Leo and the GBM family.   Just a quick look at the new, improved homepage.   With an updated interface, it’s much easier to find what you’re looking for: from web episodes to recipes, it’s all here!     Speaking of recipes, how cool is this new layout?   With the new interface, people who sign up and register will be signed up for the weekly eBlast and get access to all of Fr. Leo’s recipes all at once. And we want to encourage each of you to share in the movement by sending in stories and photos from GBM events and with your family so that others may be encouraged by the good that be done through one another.     Fr. Leo will be filmed for the 700 Club on November 30th to talk about his new book, Spicing Up Married Life.   You may start seeing Fr. Leo on TV and in articles more often soon in light of the release of Spicing Up Married Life, as we seek to partner with groups to share the book with couples. He will be featured on The 700 Club on November 30, sharing a number of recipes straight out of the book. If you have a local bookstore that you want to offer Fr. Leo’s new book, or if you’re interested in hosting Fr. Leo at your event or show, please contact us at assistant@gracebeforemeals.com.     Fr. Leo is teaming up with Tom Leopold, a comedy writer who worked on “Cheers!” and “Seinfeld” to host a new radio show on The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM. Check out the schedule here.    This fall, Fr. Leo has been hosting a radio show with Tom Leopold on the Catholic Channel called “Entertaining Truth with Tom Leopold and Fr. Leo Patalinghug” (appropriately enough). Tom Leopold is a Jewish convert to Catholicism and a comedy writer who has worked on shows such as Seinfeld, Cheers!, and even Will and Grace, but you can read about his conversion here. The next show is airing at 11am on Saturday, November 3, so tune in! Aside from being on the 700 Club and hosting a radio show, Fr. Leo was also recently in Rome filming new episodes of Savoring Our Faith! It will be a lot of fun and worth catching on EWTN. With so much going on and a new chapter for Grace Before Meals getting ready to begin, we ask you to keep us in your prayers, and we also extend special prayers to all of the families devastated and affected by the recent Superstorm Sandy. May God bless each of them, especially in light of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. With the Christmas Holiday season coming up, we hope you consider sharing Fr. Leo’s newest book Spicing Up Married Life with friends and family of all ages. Head over to the new GBM Shopping Cart and place your order, and if you want Fr. Leo to SIGN & DEDICATE your books or apparel, then email us at assistant@gracebeforemeals.com and we will be happy to get them to you as soon as possible. **For those who wish to have dedications, please allow an additional week for delivery to account for Fr. Leo’s availability. He’s all over the place!

Posted in All Souls Day, Events, Media, Savoring Our Faith, Spicing Up Married Life, What's On the Table | 2 Comments »

All Soul’s Food

Two days ago many children celebrating Halloween dressed in costumes, approached a stranger’s home, knocked on the door and insisted for candy.  Or else, suffer the tricky consequences!

(Typical of seminarians, always playing tricks – even on food.)

It’s redundant, but so worth repeating:  Halloween is just another example of a secularized holiday, rooted in the Christian celebrations, that brings the community together through FOOD. Namely CANDY!

(Granted, it’s not candy, but these sweet desserts prepared by the seminarians of Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland, are definitely my kinds of sweet “treats!”)

Now that Halloween is over and children are still on a sugar rush, parents have a responsibility to properly integrate the social fun with the solemnity of the holiday.  If not, the silliness of costume dress up combined with the demand of for treats could stunt the spiritual maturation and psychological growth of our children.  If kids don’t see a deeper meaning to the lighthearted expression of this holiday, little kids can turn into “big kids” – not necessarily mature adults.

“Big kids” still “dress up,” but in a different way, i.e., they prefer fantasy to reality, and they put on titles and attitudes rather than discover their true identity.  Big kids seek adult “treats,” –  expensive technology, fashion, luxury, or high dollar socializing.  And if they don’t get it, big kids may play tricks that come in the form of vandalism, or theft.  They may even organize themselves and demand the sweet things in life through obnoxious bullying or “protesting.”  Unless as kids we grow up seeing a more meaningful side to Halloween, those childish tendencies can stick with us for a very long time.

Today’s solemn Feast Day of All Souls offers gentle reminders and a helpful perspective to young children about how the Halloween fun has a deeper meaning.  All Souls Day celebrates life in a spiritually healthy way.  It reminds us of the humility with which we must approach life, knowing that life ultimately isn’t about costumes and candy, but the salvation of our soul.

(An ironic picture: we’re like “walking dead” until we get that cup of coffee in the morning.)

Now please don’t think I’m a fuddy-duddy when it comes to the Halloween fun!  I sincerely hope the young children had fun dressing up, parading around the neighborhood, and just being children who love candy.  At the same time, I hope parents can help their children see a more prayerful and serious approach to Halloween – an approach that’s connected to today’s feast of praying for all the souls of the dead, minus that feeling of just entering a haunted house.  Go ahead parents, and take your children to church today, or even visit a cemetery to pray for the beloved dead.

Today’s celebration and the prayers and prayerful remembrances of the faithful departed remind us that life will eventually lead to God’s door.  We will knock and He will answer.  We won’t be dressed up, but in fact it will be the exact opposite – our real identity will be completely exposed. No tricks can be played, and the only “treat” offered is the banquet of eternal life to those who did not mask their Christian identity.  Yes, this Feast Day, connected to Halloween, reminds us that only the souls of the just receive that sweet reward of eternal life.

(Seminarians in procession at Mount St. Mary’s Emmitsburg Cemetery, located at the National Shrine of the Lourdes Grotto.)

That’s what we pray for today.

The modern world approaches the afterlife, death, and the subject of spirits and souls with a creepy hesitation and subconsciously imbedded fear.  The Church, though, offers children of all ages an opportunity to mature in their understanding of this mystery through study and prayer.

You can certainly see that Halloween doesn’t bother my Christian sensibilities.  I think parents that let their kids have a little neighborhood fun are healthy people.  At the same time, I encourage families to make sure they share the real “treat,” if you will, the Eucharist – true food for our soul.

(Enjoying a sweet treat with my project manager, Joe, and some YouTube artists in Hollywood, California! Stay tuned to hear more about our upcoming YouTube channel.)

Let us pray:

Father, we ask Your mercy on all of those who have died, especially in this past year.  May they experience Your purifying Grace, be welcomed into the eternal communion and participate in the feast that gives eternal life to our body and soul.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Did you let your children go trick or treating?  What costume did they wear?  Do you remember your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?  What was your favorite candy?  And what type of candy did you give to your neighbors?  How will you celebrate All Soul’s Day and talk about it with your children?

By the way:  My favorite Halloween costume was “Casper the Friendly Ghost.”  And my favorite candy was chocolate covered malt-balls!  Just loved that sweet chocolaty crunch!

(Instead of turning pumpkins into scary faces, turn that jack-o’-lantern into something beautiful – or even a pie!)

Posted in All Souls Day, Dinner Discussion, Halloween, Holiday, In Memory, Mass, Past Emails, Prayers, Seminarians | 7 Comments »