RELIGIOUS LEGACY OF FOOD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS IN PUDUCHERRY
RELIGIOUS LEGACY OF FOOD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS IN PUDUCHERRY
Dr. P. CHARLES CHRISTOPHER RAJ
M.A., M.Phil. M.I.M.,
M.L.I.S.C., M.C.A., B.Ed. P.G.D.T.A. Ph.D.,
HEAD
OF THE DEPARTMENT of HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
PERUNTHALAIVAR KAMARAJAR ARTS COLLEGE
K.T.KUPPAM,
MADAGADIPET, PUDUCHERRY 605 010
MOBILE: 9443723327
Email Id:ccraj18@gmail.com
Introduction
The
Roman Catholic Church, the most populous Christian church, which is headed by
the Pope of Rome, who is believed to be an apostolic descendent of St. Peter, the
first bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church has a long history of development in
concert with Western civilization. It maintains the basic Christian tenets of
faith, including the Holy Trinity and the effect of Adam and Eve’s fall from
their original sinless state at creation. Catholics believe in the salvific
actions of Jesus Christ who redeemed
creation from the effects of original sin and established Christianity, the
Bible and then tradition as the standards of faith and belief. The Catholic Church believes that it has the
authority and responsibility to be a conduct for God’s grace of salvation, food-eating,
healing and wholeness through prayer and the seven Sacraments1, such
as Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick and the
Eucharist. Food and Health are the two
important aspects of human being, when people are in need of food and healing,
they are encouraged to request the prayers of other Christians and the saints especially
the Virgin Mary who they believe are in Heaven and are endowed with the grace
to request God’s help for the gift of healing.
The Catholic Church encourages food interventions that nourishes physical and spiritual well-being2.
Puducherry Roman Catholics follow the
necessary itinerary of food that they want to intake and there is no dietary
restrictions. Abstinence from meat on
Fridays is encouraged but is not required, as an act of love and solidarity
with Christ’s crucifixion and suffering, preparing believers for the
remembrance of the resurrection which is celebrated on each Sunday. Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday are the only days during the year when fasting and abstinence
from meat are required3.
We would
like to believe that eating is a rational act, governed by hygiene and
nutrition but in most cases it is not. We eat because food is tasty, because we
are hungry, because that is what our family told us to eat. Often, we eat
related items and don’t eat what others don’t because by doing so we reaffirm
our links to a particular group4.
The
reasons for religious dietary laws are often shrouded in mystery – with reasons
ranging from hygiene to divine decree to unquestionable tradition. Jewish dietary laws involve kosher 5foods. Eggs must be checked
for blood spots. These were apparently instituted for health reasons – because
certain foods get spoiled easily, because one can get trichinosis from pork. If that was the case then these laws would
have been abandoned with the advent of modern food processing. Beyond the rational
reasons, it seems more likely that these dietary laws helped the Jewish
Diaspora reaffirm their separateness and identity through centuries of exile
and persecution6. Jesus
was born in a Jewish family and no doubt followed the kosher dietary laws.
During the last supper he equated wine with his
blood and offered it to his followers. Was this an act of breaking free
from the Jewish fold since blood is non-kosher? Little wonder then that
Christianity grew in numbers and gradually became the dominant religion of
Europe and spread in Asia especially in India, smiles to the traditions of
indianisation in all aspects of Christian faith, keeping in view the core
meaning of celebration leaving behind the westernisation7. Particularly
in Tamilnadu and Puducherry, Roman Catholics’ legacy in the pattern of food
eating has been followed from the
tradition of the universal biblical liturgical aspects through indianisation and
my article goes in for a thorough study on the food habits of Roman Catholics
at Puducherry in the form of Calendrical aspect starting from Christmas (Birth
of Jesus) and closing with All Souls Day.
Calendrical Festivals and the food
prepared for the occasions
* Christmas
On 25th
December of every year, this day is
celebrated as the Jesus Christ’s birth
day. On this day, people of Pondicherry distribute
a cake called Vivikam or Putucherry Cake8. This cake is specific to Pondicherry Creole families and some of the ingredients are procured a couple of months
in advance. The more the ingredients
soak in rum, the more they absorb it and
the tastier the cake gets. The cake is baked well in advance and can be preserved
for more than a month. In the
midnight of the Christmas eve, Catholics
go to church for liturgical mass and when they are back, they all sit together near the crib or Kudil 9 which is decorated depicting the birth of Child Jesus.
The eldest in the family cuts the cake, a piece of cake is offered to the Infant Jesus
in the manger and the whole night the celebration goes on. During the lunch of the day, friends are invited and a grand lunch is
served and Putucherry cake is served
with Cognac10 at the end
of the meal. Besides the cake, Crib gets the importance for a fortnight
where the consecutive days prayers are offered and those who attend the prayer
session are given sundal prepared
with cereals and pulses11.
* New Year
The New Year celebration is literally, the feast on the
eighth day of the Christmas. On the
night of 31st December at 11 p.m., the Mass is celebrated to mark
the beginning of the New Year. People
bring with them kaapparici12 (rice mixed with treacle and
distributed at the birth of a child), and place it at the altar. After the
Mass, this rice is blessed by the priest and is distributed to all those
present in the church. The rice so distributed is taken home and mixed with
rice and shared among friends and relatives. The Hindus have a similar practice
in the month of Maarkazi
(December-January). They make porridge out of the new rice and offer it at the
family altar and then consume. kaapparici is the new rice from the
harvest that is first offered to the deity and then consumed. Similarly, the
Catholics offer the new rice in the church. The midday meal will have a special chutney called Maangaiy titipu or sweet mango chutney, the chutney found unique in Pondicherry and
Karaikal and the combination of ingredients overwhelm the appetite of a person
who consume it, the sweet sour flavor
makes it an ideal accompaniment to lamb and chicken briyani13.
* Epiphany14(Moonu
raja Pongal)
The
first Sunday of the Year in January is the day of visit by the three kings to
see the Child Jesus in the manger and it is called as Epiphany but in parts of
Puducherry it is celebrated as Moonu raja Pongal as thanks to the Mother Earth
for bringing the great Messiah to this world to resurrect the poor. All the family members go to the parents’
houses and Pongal is cooked on this day at noon when the church bells start
chiming. Usually cow’s milk is used but
in Pondicherry and Karaikal, coconut milk is used. A small portion of pongal is placed in the
crib for Child Jesus. Then the Pongal is distributed to neighbours, friends
and relatives. It is placed along with
a piece of sugar cane, porials,
chutney and special sweet is prepared called chana dal saute sweet which is sweet in taste, appalam, ghee, tambulum, beetle leaves,
bananas and a string of jasmine all placed on a banana leaf. Taplam
Kuzhambu or Mixed vegetables in tamarind sauce, is thes kuzhambu is made in
a mud pot. Many vegetables have to be
cooked on that day. So that this kuzhambu
becomes the mark of the day15.
In the evening when the kith and kin leave the house, the elders bless them and give them presents
as well as money and wish them all success in their endeavour throughout the
year.
* Ash Wednesday
The
season of Lent denotes a period of forty days when the Catholics are expected
to realise their sins and make reparation for the same. During this period,
some Catholics abstain from physical pleasures like the consumption of meat and
alcohol. As an expression of penance devout
Catholics even wear a special kind of indigenous dress called kaavi. Some
combine the Lenten ritual with tiruyaattirai (a pilgrimage on foot) to the
Shrine Vailankanni . As prescribed by
the Church, the Lenten rituals begin on the viboodi tirunaaL /AshWednesday,the
day on which the priest applies viboodi (ash) on the forehead of the
people during the Mass. Three decades ago, the Catholic women were proscribed
from wearing flowers in their hair and kumkumam (red spot) on their
forehead during the Lenten season, and the priests were particular about it. Today, this is not very strictly followed, and
most women have the kumkumam, though they give up wearing flowers in
their hair. For Tamil women kumkumam is an auspicious sign, which is
only proscribed for widows. The priests have also come to understand the native
symbolism and accordingly respect such practices of the people16. Besides these they abstain from flesh food
and eat vegetarian diet, and the very
famous rasam is prepared during these days is Tengaiy paal rasam or Coconut milk rasam, in which coconut milk, tomatoes, salt,
coriander leaves, garlic, black pepper
and cumin seeds, tamarind pulp are mixed
and boiled. On this day, the
members of family who are fasting have their meals with this rasam17.
* Holy Week
The Lent Season has the
particular section called Holy Week which starts as Holy Thursday, Holy Friday
or Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. These days are the most important days of
each Christian fellow for the founder of Christianity died and resurrect on the
third day as he had promised it in the synagogue of Jerusalem. Besides the ceremonial activities depicting
the mourning days, the food which is
accommodated on these days are also mournful one. On
Holy Thursday, since Jesus had his last supper with his disciples, which consisted of Bread and Wine, is taken in each house of Roman Catholics in
Pondicherry with Kanji(rice kanji)
and Thovaiyal i.e., Chutney. This kanji
is prepared with rice and coconut scraps and thovaiyal is prepared with groundnut and coconut. They keep it
prepared before they go for the liturgical mass in the evening of
Thursday and have it as soon as they come home for they are going to fast the
next day being the Good Friday, the Lord death day. On Friday persons above sixty years of age
will have light breakfast i.e., the left over kanji of the previous day and others will fast in the morning as
they attend the Way of the Cross the semblance
of Christ put to death in Jerusalem. After
this session they come home and have food.
Good Friday is observed with cooked agati grandiflora and bitterguard to mark the mourning the crucification of
Jesus Christ. Bitter guard will be cut in round
shapes and made to dry for hours then
mixed with chilly powder, salt and fried
it in the pan. Agati grandiflora is prepared
with thoordal for the children should not feel the bitterness18. But in the places of Holy Land, the Biblical Herb Soup or Soup of the Seven
Sorrows in which they use the seven bitter herbs like turnip greens,radish
greens, parsley greens, sorrel leaves, endive, mustard and coriander go into
this soup to symbolize the seven sorrows of Mother Mary and the soup acts as
the light meal on the mourning day19. Then the Holy Saturday, the day said to be Mary lamenting for Jesus, oppariy naaal. So the same practice is followed by the
women folk of Pondicherry. They wear
only white sarees and they usually don’t cook food. Instead they eat whatever food is available or they prepare
Chapaati without oil and use potato mash to go with. In some villages they prepare vennaiputtu which is not so sweet and
not so salty and is very often found in jelly form. Then the Resurrection Day i.e. Easter Day is
celebrated. It is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, a day of special
rejoicing for Christians, who rejoice too at reaching the end of the long
Lenten fast. The concept of renewal/rebirth is responsible for the important
role played by the egg in Easter celebrations, a role which no doubt antedates
Christianity. There are also special foods associated with the other days in
the Easter calendar...In Europe, there is a general tradition, not confined to
Christians, that Easter is the time to start eating the season's new lamb,
which is just coming the market then., Easter
breads, cakes, and biscuits are a major category of Easter foods, perhaps especially
noticeable in the predominantly Roman Catholic countries of South and Central
Europe., traditional breads are laden with symbolism in their shapes, which may
make reference to Christian faith., in England breads or cakes flavoured with
bitter tansy juice is used and are popular Easter foods., Simnel cake has come
to be regarded as an Easter specialty, although it was not always so. The most
popular English Easter bread is the hot cross bun. Eggs of Easter are connected with rebirth, rejuvenation and
immortality. In the early Christian
calendar eggs, were forbidden during Lent. This made them bountiful and
exciting forty days later. Easter eggs are sometimes decorated with bright
colors to honor this celebration. Eggs
were colored, blessed, exchanged and eaten as part of the rites of the spring
long before Christian times. Even the earliest civilizations had springtime
festivals to welcome the sun's rising from its long winter sleep. They thought
of the sun's return from darkness as an annual miracle and regarded the egg as
a natural wonder and a proof of the renewal of life. As Christianity spread,
the egg was adopted as a symbol of Christ's Resurrection from the tomb. For
centuries, eggs were among the foods forbidden by the church during Lent. So it was a special treat to have them again
at Easter. Eggs are distributed in the
church taken home as a part of Easter
breakfast20. This custom is
found only in the Notre Damne de Anges Church at Pondicherry. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of
mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times.
The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs,
celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem
of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told,
come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday
morning. Apart from these Van Koji Kary
Vellaiy Kurma or Turkey Kurma is
prepared, marinate the turkey pieces in
3 cups of yoghurt for 1 hour, add garlic, ginger pastes and fry to set golden
brown colour in the oil, prepare the kurma
using coconut, cashew nuts, almonds and poppy seed pastes and boil it and then
put the fried turkey pieces into it, and then it is served for lunch21. Easter is the day of feasting and enjoyment
with a variety of food after forty days when the lent is over.
*All Souls Day
This falls on the 2nd November and is
dedicated to all the dead by the Church. The rite of All Souls Day was incorporated
into the calendrical feast of the Church from the tenth century that the dead need the prayers of the living
is the essential message of the day. This is because of the Catholic belief
that the dead do not enter heaven directly, but go through an intermediary
state called the purgatory waiting for final judgement. Prayers by the living cleanse the souls of the
dead, bringing them into closer communion with god. Catholics not only pray but
also ask other intermediaries like the saints and Mary to intercede for those under
going luminal ordeal in purgatory. Following
the native lore of the Hindus, some Catholics believe that failure to pray for
the dead in the family would provoke the dead to disturb the living. Thus, misfortune
and sickness in the family are often attributed to such failures. Dreams of the
dead are considered as reminders to pray for them and/or as signs of impending misfortune.
The Catholics also believe that even as the dead need the prayers of the living,
the dead can also assist the living in the material world. This is one of the
reasons why the Catholics offer the Mass before any auspicious occasion (e.g.,
marriage) or after a beneficial event (e.g., getting a job). On the All Souls
Day, the Catholics clean the cemeteries and decorate the graves of their family
members with flowers. They place lighted candles and incense sticks on the
graves. The priest prays for the dead stressing on the Christian belief that they
are not dead but are risen with Jesus. The blessing of the cemetery by the
priest is very significant from the point of view of the people, since the
notion of the fear of the dead still lingers in the minds of the people. It is
symbolic of the dead person's spirit bound within the grave and the harmful
effects being neutralised by the sprinkling of the holy water. Offering food in
the name of the dead is a native practice, and is distinct from praying for the
dead. Food like chicken or mutton briyani, mixed vegetable
curry, and sweets that are liked by the dead personnel especially jileby, mysoreba,alcohol
etc are placed in the banana leaf before the portraits of the dead souls. Long prayer sessions will be there as if
awaiting the dead to come and consume these food items. The rituals the Catholics follow on the All
Souls Day show the way they have fused their Christian ideas of death with the
native practices. The remembrance of the dead ancestors has now become a part
of the prescribed prayers of the Church. Thus, the manner in which the
Catholics observe the rituals on this day is one of combinations, moulding and
reinterpreting the Catholic rituals with those of their native beliefs and
rituals22.
To sum up, the calendrical feasts of the Catholics have
definite rituals and food procedures set by the Church. From the foregoing
description of the celebrations we observe that the Catholics while retaining
the given structure and rituals of the Christian celebration have added native
rituals, beliefs and practices. They have done so by retaining the core Christian
symbols and have added on peripheral symbols, which are basically native and
not Christian in origin but belonging to Hindu tradition. These native symbols
receive Christian attributes as they are incorporated into the Christian
celebration.
Roman Catholics
follow the Food Matrix based on – Physical, Social,
Moral and Spiritual Dimensions. The Bible’s frequent reference to food highlights
food’s importance for the physical,
social, moral and spiritual
well being of God’s People and Catholics of Pondicherry thrive to follow it up
by all means. Developing a Christian theology for food requires an examination of each of
these dimensions of human-ness across the four eras covered in the Old and the New
Testaments23.
Food Matrix as a model:***
Era
Quality
|
Creation
Era
|
Theocracy
of
Israel
|
Jesus’
time and
teaching
|
Early
Church
Practice
|
1.
Physical
(food as
meeting
the
daily
requirements
of
living)
|
Gen 1:29 - God
provided
abundant
food for Adam
and
Eve
|
God provides
manna and
quail
in the desert for
40
years, then a
land
of milk and
honey
|
Matt 4 - Jesus
experiences
hunger
Matt 15:32 -
Jesus
feeds the 4000
Matt 6:11 -
Jesus
pray of
thankfulness
for food –
“our daily
bread”
|
Early Church
practice of
feeding the
widows and the
orphans and
distribution
according to
need
|
2a.
Social
(eating
together
strengthens
social
bonds)
|
Gen 18 –
Abraham
feeds God’s
messengers
|
Significant
events
in Israel’s
history
commemorated
by
a feast –
Feast of
Tabernacles,
First
Fruits,
Passover
|
Matt 9:10 and
Matt
11:18 - Jesus’
social
events around
food
were condemned
as
eating and
drinking
with sinners
|
Acts 2:42 –
The
New Church
breaks bread
together
|
2b.
Social
(food’s
role in
confirming
the
binding
nature
of a
covenant)
|
Gen 15:10 -
God’s
covenant with
Abraham sealed
with a heifer,
a goat
and 2 birds
|
Num 6:1 and
Judges 13:7 –
Nazerites, a
covenant
people of
God, were set
apart by their
food
habits
|
Matt 26, Mark
14
and Luke 22 –
The
Last Supper’s
New
Covenant
sealed
with bread and
wine
|
Rom 12:20 –
Paul makes a
vow to abstain
from certain
foods for the
benefit of
others
|
3a.
Moral
(personal
triumphs
or
failures
resulting
from
food)
3b.
Moral
(obligations
to the
community)
|
Gen 1:29 -
Food is
good work of
God
and of great
variety
for Adam and
Eve
|
Prov 23:2, 23:21
and 28:7 –
Gluttony is a
disgrace and
idolatrous
Lev 23:22 -
Gleaning
provisions
Ezek 18:16 -
admonitions to
assist the
poor
|
Matt 25:40 -
The
way in which
one
treats the
poor and
hungry
God determines
moral
character and judgment before
|
Titus 1:12 –
Gluttony is
sinful
Acts 15, 1 Cor
10:20 – Food
sacrificed to
idols
is sinful
Acts 6 – the
feeding
program
of the new
church
under Stephen
|
4a.
Spiritual
(food
impeding
our
relationship
with
God)
|
Gen 3 - Adam
and
Eve committed
first
sin through the
medium of food
Gen 4 – Cain
committed
second
sin because of
God’s
reaction to
his food
offering
|
The plethora
of
food laws in
the
Old Testament;
The necessity
of
food offerings
of
grain or meat
to
communicate
with
God
|
Matt 15:20 –
and
Mark 7:17 –
Jesus
challenges the
food
laws of the
Old
Testament by
challenging
the
definition of
clean
and unclean
foods
|
Rom 14:20 - Do
not eat foods
that
will make your
brother fall
Acts 15:28 –
The
Council of
Jerusalem sets
out food rules
for
non-Jews
|
4b.
Spiritual
(food as
a
mark or
symbol
of
spirituality)
|
Gen 2:17 – God
uses
a tree and its
fruit as
the mark of
the
knowledge
between
good and evil
|
Jesus is the
bread of
life and the
living
water of life
John 4:34 -
Jesus’
food is to do
God’s
will
|
James 2:14 –
Faith is
demonstrated
in
action, such
as
sharing food
|
Physical needs
Food is a central concept in the Old and New Testaments.
Subsistence economies and the
harsh climatic regions of
the Middle East made food, its cultivation and consummation a central
theme of physical life
during the entire period in which the Bible was written. It is sometimes easy
to lose sight of this fact in our modern age of Western World abundance where
the importance and centrality of food have been substantially downgraded. The
story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis establishes clearly that God
created all means of physical sustenance. After God created man and woman, he
gave them these plants for food24.
Man was placed in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. When the first
humans sinned God commanded that Adam and Eve to produce their own food by the
sweat of their brow. Throughout the Bible, bread is used as the food term of
immediate need and sustenance. Give us
this day our daily bread. Man cannot live by bread alone25.
Bread is the single most important food word in the Bible and focuses attention
on the necessity of meeting daily nutritional requirements for survival. God
provided for the Israelites daily while they were in the desert with the bread-
like manna. Fruit and specific references to different fruits, including figs,
raisins, pomegranates, olives, grapes and wines, on the other hand, represent abundance.
Meeting physical needs basically with bread or abundantly with fruits is a constant
theme in the Old and New Testaments. Jesus understands the physical dimension
of food. He knew hunger and he knew, along with Satan, the physical need to
appease such hunger. Jesus understood the physical demand of food and often
satisfied that need in his disciples and his followers. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people; they have
already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send
them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way26.
Social functions
Throughout the Bible, food is used as means to build,
enhance or repair relationships. Eating together builds community. It
demonstrates trust and care. It even prevents quarrels. In this way, food meets
important social needs and is an instrument of blessing. In the Old Testament
for example, Abigail made appeasement to David, who was coming to kill her husband,
by sending him donkeys laden with food. By Abigail’s gift of food and
well-chosen words, conflict was averted27. Food brings people together as it did at the
Last Supper or at the meetings of the Early Church or at Old Testament
festivals such as the Feast of Tabernacles28, First Fruits or
Passover29. The Bible’s constant recognition of the state of the
poor and the need that they be cared for speaks volumes not only to the
physical attributes, but also the social attributes, of food. Feeding the poor
would bring them into community and thus the poor would come to enjoy the
benefits of community life and interaction as well as no longer being hungry. In those days when the number of disciples
was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. This was a dire situation as it was not
only a violation of the vulnerable
group’s physical well being but also had social effects on the larger
community. Obstructing the poor in getting their food was indicative of a much
deeper tear in the social and spiritual fabric of that early Church community30.
Food in the Bible also has the social function of peacemaking. Abigail used it
to appease David and Paul suggests that we use to appease our enemies. St. Paul
says If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink31.
Moral implications
The law given to Moses32 as set out in Exodus33
and Leviticus34 makes it very clear that those who have food have an
obligation to share it with others. When you reap the harvest of your land, do
not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your
harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. This particular command is a part of a larger
admonition to care for the poor and the alien. However, it is significant that
one of the ways the poor are to be cared for is that those who produced food
were to leave some portion for the poor.
The law could have commanded that those who produced food were to give some percentages
to the poor in a manner similar to the provision for the Levites35.
However, in this command, the requirement was that food be left for the poor
and that the poor would actually have to come and get it themselves from the
edges of the fields. The other significant command in relation to food and the
poor is found in the 7-year Sabbath regulations for the land. In the Exodus Version
of the law of the 7th year Sabbath rest
for the land indicates that what the land produces in its fallow year: Then the poor among your people may get food
from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your
vineyard and your olive grove. This implies that in the Sabbath year, as in
the desert, God himself supplies the needs of the poor. There are many
references to God’s concern for the poor. He requires that his people care for
the poor among them, that they refrain from taking advantage of them and that
they will suffer judgment for treating the poor wrongly. Even in the New
Testament there are several instances where individuals defile themselves by
inappropriately consuming food. Either they eat too much of it and risk the
sins of excessive living or they eat food which causes their brothers and
sisters to stumble. While Jesus’ teachings and those of the disciples relax the
food laws of the Old Testament, food can still be a personal stumbling block. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake
of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that
causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or
to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall36.
Spiritual role of food
It is significant that the first sin is related to food.
God had given all plants to man and
woman for food except for
the significant tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. When
Adam and Eve succumbed to
the temptation to eat and be like God,
their disobedience to
God’s command was manifested
by eating the forbidden fruit. Leviticus is filled with specific references to
the elaborate food laws of the Jewish faith. Fulfilling the laws would bring
one into
a
closer relationship with God. Offering appropriate food sacrifices also
demonstrates the spiritual function of food in the Old Testament. In the New
Testament Jesus reveals the spiritual consequences for failing to heed the obligation
to feed the poor. Jesus said, He will put
the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to
those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to
drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. Jesus concludes: I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart
from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and
his angels. For I was hungry and yo u gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave me nothing to drink. Food is often a metaphor for meeting daily
spiritual needs. Jesus refers to himself as both the living water and the bread
of life. Jesus said that our forefathers
ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. But here is the bread that comes down from
heaven, which a man may eat and not die. Food is important in the Bible and is given
its central place in the physical, social, moral and spiritual development of
God’s people. It is, of course, possible to overstate the importance of food in the Bible. The Bible sets out God’s
plan for our salvation and His love for His People. While our physical needs
are important, Jesus’s work is of a spiritual nature and food is only an element
in that plan of spiritual renewal37. As St. Paul stated, Food
does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better
if we do. Even, the coastal regions celebrates the
festivals with the fishes that are available during Christmas, they select the
star fish as special one and crabs which have the symbol of cross during Easter
are used, so the food utilized may differ from region to region but they mean
the festival days to be one and the
same.
As far as food is concerned
Christianity directive principle is to provide food to those in need whether
the person is of the same society, creed, caste or race as the
Gospel of Luke says, the man with two
tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do
the same41.
Pondicherry
Roman Catholic Christian house kitchen stove are always lit with fire and their houses at the outside
have two sit ups waiting for somebody to rest and the house owner intends to
provide food, because food doesn’t belong to one but to the whole community
where we all live.
Importance of Food and Food Aid
Food to be received with gratitude
The Christian theology of food begins with gratitude.
Jesus taught us to give thanks for our daily bread. St. Paul reminded us that whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God. Food,
like grace, is a gift from God to be received with gratitude. No one has a right to food. Instead, one is grateful to be the recipient
of God’s bounty and abundance. When one
is hungry, God will provide as He did to the Israelites in the desert or to the
gleaners, like Ruth. And while the hungry have no right to food, those blessed
with abundance have an obligation to provide food to the hungry38.
Food as the
fabric of relationships
In the Bible,
time and time again food is used to build community. Sometimes the relationship
to be cemented is between a person of high stature and those of more humble
circumstances such as with Samuel calling for a feast to announce that David
will be Israel’s new King. Sometimes the
relationship is a familiar one with the parable father killing the fattened
calf to celebrate the return of his prodigal son. Sometimes the giving of food
appeases enemies or starts the process of forgiveness. Ultimately the sharing
of food is a sign of love and acceptance such
as was shown by Jesus dining with tax collectors. Regardless, food is
not just a commodity for consumption. It
has an important and often sacred role in building community and avoiding
conflict39.
Grappling with the balance between justice and
compassion
Yet there is a strong tension within the Christian
theology of food. How does one balance the justice theme of strict food laws in
the Old Testament or the hard teaching of St.Paul’s New Testament passage if you don’t work, you don’t eat with
the compassion that God’s show for his
people in the dessert or Jesus’ feeding
the 5000? Both themes exist.
God’s command is to work by the sweat of
your brow to produce food, failing which you will surely die. Just as
without God’s grace of salvation you will die spiritually, without God’s
provision you will die. But God does
provide and his people are under an obligation to be thankful for the share
their bounty received from God. The focus on the Christian theology of food
(and consequently food aid) is that we have no right to food but rather an
obligation to be thankful for the provision of food and to show this gratitude
by extending an offer of food to others—to meet their physical, social, moral
and spiritual needs40.
Conclusion
Thus
Roman Catholic Christians, celebrate the calendrical festivals according to
their Holy Book and the tradition mentioned in it but there is a paradigm shift
when it comes to India and especially Puducherry, where we have indigenous
practices without violating the intended basic principles local adaptations are
carefully done with the stipulated framework of the well-defined
occasions. They are to be viewed as
comparable food items grown in a different geographical locations certain
native mystifications are done only to facilitate the locals who are used to
their native customs and beliefs. It is
all done only to reinforce the spirit of the occasion and careful attention is
paid not to make it a deviant version from the original attributes. Thus, food serves as a comprehensive symbol
of love, compassion, communal living, hospitality, appeasement of even the
enemies and finally a spiritual and a holy ideal.
Footnotes
and References :
1. Sacrament means a sacred action, object or means. It is some
external action or sign performed in the name of Jesus, and is reminiscent of
Jesus' actions capable of producing inward grace. For example, the Eucharistic
sacrament employs bread and wine 'symbolically and analogically rather than
conventionally and arbitrarily'. The Catholic Church observes seven sacraments:
Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist Reconciliation, Anointing, Matrimony and
Priesthood.
2. Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process. Harmondsworth,
Middlesex: Penguin Books.1969 pp.
15-22.
3. Bernard
Jensen,Foods that Heal,HealthHarmony,NewDelhi,2004,p.43.
4. Alberta
Health Services, Health Care and
Religious Faiith,pp.28-32.
5. Kosher means that which is fit or
proper, and the rules determining kosher are complex. For example, only fish
with fins and scales are kosher. Thus clams, shrimps, and crabs are nonkosher.
Animals that chew the cud and have cloven hoofs are kosher. Blood is
non-kosher.
6. Stephen
Charles Mott, A Christian Perspectiveon Political Thought (New York:
Oxford
University Press, 1993), pp.26-28.
7. Bayly,
Susan. Saints, Goddesses, and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South India Society 1700-1900. Cambridge: 1989.pp.92-120.
8. Lourdes
Tirouvanziam – Louis,The Pondicherry
Kitchen,Chennai,2010,p.174.
9. Sivasubrahmanian,
A. 1969. `Vasarpadi Mariyal' (in Tamil), Navavin Aaraaichi, 2 (1):pp
291-97.
10.
Brandy from the French departments
of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Tracing
its origin to the 17th century, cognac (named for the town of Cognac) is distilled
from white wine in special pot stills (alembics) and aged in Limousin oak. Most
cognacs spend from one and one-half to five years in wood, though rarer
varieties may age much longer.
11. Sivasubrahmanian, A.,op.cit.,p.301.
12. Literally, kaappu means protection and arici means
rice; thus, kaapparici refers to rice that
is protected from pollution.
13.
Lourdes
Tirouvanziam – Louis,op.cit.,p.31.
14.
Christian festival celebrated on
January 6. One of the oldest Christian
holy days (along with Christmas and
Easter), the festival originated in the Eastern church and was adopted in the
Western church by the 4th century. It commemorates the first manifestation of
Jesus to the Gentiles, as represented by the Magi. The eve of Epiphany, called
Twelfth Night, is thought to mark the arrival of the three Wise Men in
Bethlehem. These men offered incense, myrrh and silver to Infant Jesus.
15. Lourdes
Tirouvanziam – Louis,op.cit.,p.77.
16. Thekkedath, Joseph. History of Christianity in India (Vol.2).
Bangalore,1982.
17. Lourdes
Tirouvanziam – Louis,op.cit.,p.48.
18. Stephen
Louie,Dangers of Underneath, Unseeded and
Unclean Food according to Bible
Medicine,pp.204-222.
19. Fleming
H.Revell,The Good Book Cook Book,New
Jersey,1990,p.183.
20. Alan Davidson,Oxford Companion to
Food, 1999 p. 266-7.
21. Lourdes
Tirouvanziam – Louis,op.cit.,p.97.
22. Turner,Victor,. 'Symbols and Social Experience in Religious Ritual,' in Mariasusai
Dhavamony,
J. Lopez-Gay and J. Finance (eds.): Worship and Ritual: In
Christianity
and Other Religions. Rome,1974, pp.
1-21.
23. Don
Buckingham, The Canadian Food grains
bank,Ottawa,2000,p.15.
***Ibid.p.19
24. Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible,
Book of Genesis,Chapter1.
25. Revised Standard Version, The Holy
Bible,op.cit., Gospel of St.Matthew,Chapter 6.v.11.
26. Ibid.Chapter15.v.32.
27. Revised Standard Version, The Holy
Bible,op.cit.,First Book of Samuel,Ch.28.v.18.
28. In Jewish history, the portable sanctuary
constructed by Moses as a place of worship for the
Hebrew tribes during the period of wandering that preceded their arrival in the
Promised Land.
A feast is celebrated in commemoration of the tabernacles. Elaborately described in Exodus, it was divided into
an outer room, the “holy place,” and an inner room,
the Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant. With the erection of the
Temple of Jerusalem, the Tabernacle no
longer served a purpose. In modern Roman Catholicism
and Eastern Orthodoxy, the tabernacle is the receptacle on the church altar in which the consecrated elements of the Eucharist
are stored.
29.
In Judaism, the holiday
commemorating the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Before
sending a plague to destroy the firstborn of the Egyptians, God instructed Moses
to tell the Israelites to place a special mark above their doors as a signal
for the angel of death to passover (i.e., spare the residents). The festival of
Passover begins on the 15th and ends on the 22nd (in Israel, the 21st) day of
the month of Nisan (March or April). During Passover only unleavened bread may be eaten, symbolizing
the Hebrews' suffering in bondage and the haste with which they left Egypt. On
the first night of Passover, a Seder is held, and the Haggadah is read aloud.
30. Revised
Standard Version, The Holy Bible,op.cit.,The Acts,Chapter 6,v.1.
31. Revised
Standard Version, The Holy Bible,op.cit.St.Paul letter to the Romans,Chapter 12.versus.20.
32. Prophet of Judaism. According to the Book of Exodus, he was born
in Egypt to Hebrew parents,
who set him afloat on the Nile in a reed basket to save him from an edict
calling for the death of all newborn
Hebrew males. Found by the pharaoh's daughter, he was reared in the Egyptian court. After killing a brutal Egyptian
taskmaster, he fled to
Midian, where
Yahweh (God) revealed himself in a burning bush and called Moses to deliver the
Israelites from Egypt. With the help of
his brother Aaron, Moses pleaded with the pharaoh
for the Israelites' release. The pharaoh let them go after Yahweh had visited a
series of plagues on Egypt, but then
sent his army after them. Yahweh parted the waters of the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to pass, then drowned the
pursuing Egyptians. Yahweh made a covenant
with the Israelites at Mount Sinai and delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses, who continued to
lead his people through 40 years of wandering
in the wilderness until they reached the edge of Canaan. He died before he could enter the Promised Land.
Authorship of the first five books of the Bible is traditionally ascribed to him.
33.
Second
book of the Old Testament. The title refers to the departure of the Israelites
from Egypt under Moses in the 13th century BC. The book begins with the
story of the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt and God's call to Moses to become
a prophet. It tells of the plagues sent to persuade the pharaoh to free the
Israelites, and it recalls their crossing of the Sea of Reeds (or the Red Sea)
and their 40 years of wandering in the Sinai desert. It also recounts how God
made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai,
handing down the Ten Commandments. In Exodus God establishes his reliability as
Israel's protector and savior, and lays claim to its loyalty and obedience.
34. Compilation
of 37 compositions on topics suggested by the Old Testament Book of Leviticus.
Their message is that the laws of history focus on the holy life of Israel (the
Jewish people). If the Jews obey the laws of society aimed at Israel's
sanctification, then the foreordained history will unfold as Israel hopes.
Israel, for its part, can affect its own destiny. Thus salvation at the end of
history depends on sanctification.
35.
In ancient Israel, the third son of
the patriarch Jacob. Levi became head
of the clans of religious functionaries known as Levites. Unlike the 12 tribes
of Israel, the Levites were given no allotment of land when Canaan was
conquered. They are thought to have performed subordinate services associated
with public worship, serving as musicians, guardians, Temple officials, judges,
and craftsmen.
36. Revised Standard Version, The Holy Bible, op.cit.
St.Paul letter to the Romans, Chapter 14.versus.20-21.
37. Revised
Standard Version, The Holy Bible, op.cit. Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 25,v.40-42.
38. Published article by John
Hammond on Fasting and Feasting in the
Roman Catholic
Community,p.10.
39. Raj, Selva. "Dialogue 'On the
Ground:' The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India" Journal of
Hindu-Christian Studies, 2004 vol. 17: 33- 44.
40. Ibid.p.53-59.
41. Revised Standard
Version, The Holy Bible,op.cit.Gospel of St.Luke,Chapter3.versus11.
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