Thursday, December 13, 2007

Merry Christmas, Father!

I live in a diocese where the local ordinary quite rightly emphasizes rectory living for priests. Theory and practice, diverge however. Although the priests for a given town may live together, the schedule of different parishes may frustrate building a community life. The ordinary challenges of the priesthood, especially for newly ordained priests, can become exacerbated by loneliness.

My own parish is staffed by a religious order who share in a very fulfilling Rule. Instead, I put together this hamper for my spiritual director and all the priests in that rectory. It is my hope these ingredients for simple meals will help them build a communal life. I even shared my top secret recipe for Linguine with Clams!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to read a site where people are thinking similarly! Our parish has a similar living situation; several priests living together but often running in several different directions. Our rector is a superb cook, so I bought him a cookbook called Cooking with the Saints: it has recipes and traditions from around the world for different saints days. If it wasn't wrapped already, I'd give you more info, though I'm thinking of picking up the book myself after Christmas!

Lucy said...

Courtney-

I am a big fan of Cooking with the Saints, although I do adapt the recipes to be more "one-pot" friendly. Check out some of my dabbles here.

Anonymous said...

That's bookmarked. I especially love the blue cheese pasta--I think I'll make that for lunch next week!