18 Responses to “Throw Down with Bobby Flay and Fr. Leo December 16, 2009 @ 9:30 EST”

• Hello Fr. Leo
  I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful words that you presented to us at St. Jude Mission in Cincinnati, in September. You told us that Mary is our Mother and she provides us with PB&J-patience, balance and joy. This has been a source of great strength for me. Often I hear in church how terrible I am and I should look to God for help and his love. I don’t disagree with this, but it gets frustrating to get “yelled” at each week when I really feel that I am trying to live God’s word. I agree that I don’t always do so well, but the weekly message is not always inspiring or encouraging. Your presentation however, was quite inspiring. You gave me tools to work with, so that when I am not following God’s word, I have a way to deal with, fight back against the temptation. There has been several times since your talk that I was letting my Irish-Italian temper get the better of me. Then I remembered my PB&J- I felt a calmness come over me and move past the anger and frustration. So thank you again for your inspiring words!
  Kathy Fischesser
  Cincinnati Ohio

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 15th, 2009 at 11:03 am.

• Greetings in the Name of Jesus!

  Good day Fr. Leo! I am a college student from the Philippines and happened to pass by your name as I was surfing the net for Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. (I kinda have an interest of entering though. ) I was wondering where in the Philippines were you born? I am assuming that you’re from Leyte where lots of Patalinghugs abound. I am from Palompon, Leyte where your family name can’t be missed, and I know of some too.

  I pray that you and your cause will blanket the world and I hope that God will continue to bless me and keep the fire burning in me as I discern His call.

  God Bless!

  Soon to be seminarian,
  Mikael

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 15th, 2009 at 11:04 am.

• Today I watched the throwdown with Bobby Flay, and I enjoyed it so much (I am watching it again in a late-night rerun!). It’s really refreshing to see a priest with a good sense of humor, a good and clean sense of humor. This show lead me to this website, and I love the idea of the Grace before Meals project/movement. I completely agree that family meals is so important in keeping a sense of sharing and openness. I support the movement, and I hope to see it grow and influence families all over. Thanks,

  Posted by Cristina on December 16th, 2009 at 9:53 pm.

• i just saw your throw down with bobby flay your food looked awesome keep up the good work i wish you was the priest at a church in Cincinnati take care god bless

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 4:47 am.

• Hello Fr. Leo,

  My name is Yvette Hirang-Luancing and I just saw a re-run of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown epsiode with you in it. It was awesome! Of course I felt a great sense of pride seeing a fellow Filipino in one of Foodnetwork’s shows, and beat an Iron Chef!

  I am a mother of 3 from Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines and I came here to the US just to be in the Culinary Program of Johnson County Community College in Kansas. Are you, by any chance, coming here to Kansas or Missouri? I would really love to hear you speak and inspire.

  Best wishes and may you have more successful spirit-enhancing culinary endeavors

  Yvette

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 4:57 am.

• Dear Father,

  Every few months a very nice women from the local 7th Day Adventists community comes to my house and gives me the Watch Tower to read. I do look through them because she is so gracious
  and I know that she has a job to do for her church. The last time she was here with a companion she asked to make an appointment to come and speak to me in the house which I do not have a problem with; I told her early on that I am a Roman Catholic. I have thought of not answering the door the next time they come but that seems so rude on my part. Do you have some advice for me on this subject.

  Thank you and God Bless!

  Carole Anne Lohmann

  —————–

  Dear Carole,

  Thanks for the message. I think you can simply say, “Thank you for the interest in my salvation. I too am interested which is why I choose to be a Roman Catholic. ]If you are interested in becoming Catholic and better understanding the meaning of salvation according to Jesus Christ and His Church, please let me know and I can bring you information as well. For now, I kindly ask that you stop bringing me your materials as they are not not very helpful to me.”

  In other words, truth in charity!

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 4:57 am.

• gs,

  I watched your Throwdown and really liked your recipe for the Fajita, how do I find it? Bobby’s looked good too, but I know where I can find it. Thanks for your work with settling families into a tradition of food for the soul around the table.

  -John

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:16 am.

• with Bobby Flay. I watched with great interest what you both did, but is there a recipe available? I imagine you have one in your book…I will order your book, too. Do you make adobo? A Filipina friend gave me a recipe and my daughter loves Chicken adobo, so will have to make some soon.

  I love to cook. My next place (sold the old one) has to have a kitchen where I can show my talents. I am 71 and want to take some cooking classes. My daughter gave me a certificate for “Kitchen on Fire” in Berkeley. In fact, I will give her a gift certificate so she can go with me. I agree that too often we go out for meals, and my mom used to go to dance parties on Friday nights and everyone would bring a pot. I would love to see us go back to that.

  Thanks for the wonderful show…I am so glad you won.

  Marsha Koehler

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:17 am.

• Dear Father Leo-
  I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the program “Throw Down” when you were on it. You seem like such a genuinely love charged person in your faith and everyday life, it is no wonder that people are so drawn to you. You are a breath of fresh air in these days of saddness that the world is going through. You make people that dont even know you smile, and you are an inspiration that indeed there are lots of good people walking this earth. Bless you and thank you.

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:19 am.

• Dear Fr. Leo,

  I just watched Throwdown With Bobby Flay, in which your fajitas came out on top. I wanted to let you know that this episode has inspired me to check out your website and read about the Grace Before Meals Movement. I think that spending time with your family especially during meal times is very important. I am recently married and am looking for new recepies to make for my wife. I was wondering if I could have the recepie for your fajitas. If it is a secret recepie then I completely understand, but they looked so good I just thought I would ask. At the very least I wanted to say that I applaud what you are doing with the Grace Before Meals Movement and thank you for all that you do for the faith. Good luck and God Bless!

  Thank you,

  Daniel Martin

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:19 am.

• Dear Father Leo,

  I have to admit, I’m not quite sure where to start. I’ve never been good at composing letters to people I don’t know very well.

  I’ve seen you a few times on tv, the latest being on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown. The first time I saw you was on a special, but I can’t quite remember the name of it. I wanted to tell you, thank you, for what you do. Not only for your commitment to God, but for getting out there and trying to reach people… not just in your church, but beyond those walls. You have a warm, fun and friendly way about you, and you have an avenue to be able to build bridges. I love the fact that you’re encouraging families to do things together.

  Again.. thank you so much for your mission.

  May God bless and keep you.

  Beckie Evans

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:22 am.

• ear Father Leo,
  Loved you on your showdown with Bobby Flay. Would love to get your version of the steak fajitas as they looked the best but it isn’t listed on the Foodnetwork site. I couldn’t find it on your site either. How can I find it? Many thanks and Merry Christmas, Susan Weaver

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:22 am.

• r Leo,
  I saw the recent segment on Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood about you and your Family dinner movement. I was so excited to hear about you for the first time. I am Jewish but I always felt that family dinners are extremely important as our Sabbath dinners on Friday night. I always made it a point to have either dinner or breakfast with my daughter and husband as regularly as possible. As we head off to Thanksgiving with my sister’s family, I am thankful that I have family and friends to share a meal.

  I am a writer in Philadelphia and many years ago wrote a poem lamenting about family dinner which I am including below. I hope that more and more people will realize the blessing of sitting down to a meal together. God bless you for a healthy holiday season.
  Sincerely,
  Janice Jakubowitcz
  Sunday Dinner

  There is no Sunday dinner
  Once there was.
  Crisp linen was spread on the wood table.
  Mother would cook for anyone
  Coming through the front door.
  While soup simmered, grandmother complained.
  A bag of dirty laundry brought by a young married
  Wound up in the washing machine.
  Clean laundry flapped on the line.
  There is no one to drop in on now.
  Strangers live in that house.
  Friends are different.
  We look for comfort,
  But there is no Sunday dinner.
  Once there was.

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:33 am.

• r. Leo,

  So glad to hear from you. I found you and Grace before Meals on the Food Channel. But what really stuck me was the message. Families are just so busy and I feel it is so important for families to spend more time together. I would love a short article by you on your inspiration, the inception of Grace before Meals and maybe one of your favorite family recipes. You can also include a short bio and I will post a link to your site.

  At anytime, either yourself, or someone with Grace before Meals can submit news or videos to us. We will be happy to publish it. As a Christian, Catholic and a dad, helping families and building strong bonds if very important, and we are open to any other ideas you may have.

  Kind Regards,

  Kevin
  More4kids – follow us on Twitter: @More4Kids
  http://www.more4kids.info/ – “Because Kids don’t come with instructions and neither do Parents!”

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:37 am.

• Hi Fr. Leo,
  I just wanted to say thank you once again for your presence at the AZ Dairy Council Conference this week. It was truly a pleasure. I just wanted to share with you a little about myself and why I am so excited about GBM. I have a B.S. in Family Studies and before getting married and having children of my own, my life was my involvement in the youth ministry program at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix. And when I say it was my life, I am not exaggerating. Volunteering with the youth program wasn’t just something I or the other Core Members, as we were called, did on the side. We were very much a family, and the relationships we developed through ministering together have lasted even long after many of us have transitioned into the next stages of our lives and vocations. I ended up meeting my husband, John, when he came to AZ (from CANADA!) for a youth ministry training conference. Prior to meeting each other, we had both discerned that God was calling us to the vocation of married life after thoroughly discerning possible calings to religous life & for John, priesthood. So after John & I met and we realized that we had a connection, we approached our relationship as a discernment process as well. I think this was also made possible, or at least aided, by the fact that he was still living in Canada, which, looking back was a blessing, because it allowed us the opportunity to discern without the temptations of a physical relationship. I had also been praying for my future spouse and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance before meeting John. In short, by the time I went to go visit John in Canada six weeks after the conference, we both knew the other person was the one God had chosen for us. To be extra sure, I said a novena to St. Theresa for a sign of roses on the ninth day to confirm that John was meant to be my husband, and sure enough, on the ninth day, the day I arrived in Canada, John had a boquet of roses for me. Little did I know that he also had a ring, too! He gave that to me the next day, St. Valentine’s Day. We were married a little over a year and half later on October 1st, St. Theresa’s feast day. We just celebrated our Fourth Anniversary and have two beautiful children, Jude Thaddeus who is about to turn 3 and Felicity Morgan who is 1 and a half. John is the Youth Minister at Corpus Christi and I do the Parish bulletin. We are blessed to have the flexibility in our schedules that, for the most part, one of is is usually at home while the other is at work.

  You have mentioned that you are working on a second book about the importance of date-nights for couples. Speaking both from my own personal experiences and from my backgound in Family Studies (which was also called Marriage & Family Development) I would like you to know that I completely support what you are endevoring upon and am eagerly anticipating the completion. If you would like any other support or insights or if I can be of service in any way to this project, please let me know.

  Thank you for all that you do for the great glory of God.
  Pax, Christi

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:38 am.

• Hello Fr. Leo.
  I really enjoyed your newsletter. The stories about fear were very insightful. And I love the scriptural references.

  Of course as a vegan, I did not like the picture of that roasted pig very much.
  But I look forward to making that butternut squash soup, though!

  God bless and keep up the good work.

  Valerie

  Posted by Fr. Leo on December 31st, 2009 at 5:48 am.

• Greetings Father Leo! I caught you last night on EWTN’s Life On The Rock program and WOW! I’m already telling all my friends about your work. I wish you could have your own show on the Food Network. They NEED someone/something NEW and you’d be IT! I will write and tell them & I will thank EWTN. I love your mixing food/foodprep with sharing the Gospel. Didn’t Jesus do that? LOL My friends both single and married have often discussed how much food figures into the Gospels. When I was single, a bunch of us college students would meet often to cook and eat together. It beat loneliness, hard times/scarcity, kept us out of trouble and stimulated lots of conversation about how our faith impacted our daily lives–and we laughed together so much while cooking! Fr. Leo, you are so on the right track. BTW, to Carole Anne in the Dec 31st post: When the other ‘religions’ visit my dad’s door to talk, he tells them fine, under one condition, “You take whatever time you want sharing your beliefs only if you also allow me to take the same time to share my Catholic faith with you.” Oddly, many of them agree to his terms and with no disrespect or animosity he kindly explains his Christian faith practiced within the Catholic Church and is open to answering their questions. While this approach won’t fit everyone, I giggled when he told me about this because his approach was so sweet. Fr. Leo thank you for your beautiful work. I felt so light and uplifted tonight watching you cook and share your faith. What a breath of fresh air you are! God bless you richly! Patty

  Posted by Patty on March 1st, 2010 at 12:22 am.

• Hello Fr. Leo I am a roman catholic college student in California and I saw you on the food network and your fajitas looked so good that I looked you up online and found this website! I just wanted to say that you really made me think about family dinners and quality time that we miss out on with our loved ones. I really like the message of the grace before meals movement and I also really love your recipe ideas! Thank you so much!

  Posted by LaurenElizabeth on March 2nd, 2010 at 11:43 am.

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