The daily news, chocolate, and trusting in Jesus
by Robert Fontana
“Jesus, I trust in you.” This is one of my favorite mantras. I have said it so often that now these are the first words on my lips as I wake. It’s a prayer that brings me peace and calm, that is until I step out of bed, turn on the radio, and listen to the morning news. “Trust in Jesus” recedes into the background and “God, help us!” takes over.
“MORE KILLINGS AND FAMINE IN GAZA!” “LOCAL HOSPITAL AT RISK OF CLOSING!” “JUVENILE CRIME UP!” “LARGEST RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR!” “ICE AGENTS BREAKING INTO CARS TO ARREST SUSPECTED UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS!”
And the one headline that really hits home:
“HERSHEY IS HIKING ITS CHOCLATE PRICES DUE TO INCREASE OF COST OF COCOA.” (That’s because Ghana and the Ivory Coast, countries which produce almost 60% of the world’s cocoa, have been hit by poor harvests due to weather, exacerbated by climate change.)
Really, the one thing that consistently helps me cope with the evils of the world, in addition to Jesus, of course, is Hershey’s dark chocolate with almonds. And now the price is going up. Dear God!
Lori and I allow ourselves one dark chocolate Hershey Nugget a day. On a bad news day, we might allow ourselves two. Yes, we try to eat healthy – that Mediterranean Diet – but sometimes chocolate is the only comfort food that can counteract the daily dose of bad news.
Lori and I are news followers. Long ago, in a land faraway, when we were young Catholics participating in the Newman Center at LSU, some wise priest made the comment that a good preacher always had the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. That’s when we learned what the Baltimore Catechism meant with the third question put to the faithful:
Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.
The priests and campus ministers at LSU helped us to see that if we want to serve God in this world, we must pay attention to what is going on in the world, the good, the bad, and the ugly. The daily news (along with National Geographic) is an excellent source for the happenings in the “world.” And probably like you, we quickly learned that most good news in the paper is saved for Section B or perhaps even Section C. Front page, headline news is generally BAD, SCANDALOUS, and UGH! Bad news sells papers and attracts radio, podcast, and online-streaming listeners.
Lori and I were new at applying our faith to the real issues we learned about from our news sources. In those days the issues were: hunger in Ethiopia; corruption in government following the Nixon presidency; the CIA’s role in overthrowing the Shah of Iran; the aftermath of Vietnam; women’s fight for equality; racial tensions and poverty in our college town of Baton Rouge; the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion; and even some conflict between our campus ministers and the local bishop.
Two pieces of wisdom gave us direction. The first was: Chocolate comes from cacao which is a small tree. That makes it a plant. Chocolate is salad.
No, wait…that wasn’t the wisdom I was thinking of.
The first piece of real wisdom came from a book title: “Faith must do justice.” That really captured our imaginations, but what does it concretely mean? We discussed this thoroughly while eating, what else, brownies my mother made. Somehow this “cocoa salad” helped us to think deeply about the topic. Then we took the issue to our spiritual director, Fr. Dennis Berry, who gave us our second piece of wisdom.
He said, “The key is to keep asking yourself the question even if you are uncertain of an answer. The search for how to live a faith that is just and the courage to continue to ask what that looks like for this issue or that problem…this is what is really important. Keep asking the questions!”
About this time, with the help of our good friend Trish Richardson (now Mann), we began to examine the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare and their radical lifestyle of simplicity, care for the poor, love of nature, and trust in Jesus to provide. Here was a way to live a faith that is just. We can serve the poor by living a lifestyle that consumes according to our needs, that focuses on relationships rather than things, that welcomes women and men who are poor as our neighbors and friends, and that cares for the earth.
That was 48 years ago. Six children later; several moves across the country from Louisiana to Maryland to Washington; various ministry jobs; the beginning of CLM; becoming part of the Missionary Cenacle Family; lots of continuing education; adult children marrying; grandchildren; and the pressing question we are still asking ourselves is how to live a faith that is just in the midst of the issues that confront us today. I don’t have to list them. You read the papers and listen to the news. Stepping into these issues with a faith that strives for justice can only be done with trust that Jesus is with us and helping us to be a power for good. Jesus, I trust in you!
Oh, here’s one more plug for “cocoa salad” as spoken by a client of mine: “Chocolate has never let me down!” Chocolate may be a momentary distraction from the problems of life, but it has never given me a hangover, caused me to be thrown out of a bar at 2 a.m., or contributed to huge credit card debt. Enjoy it regularly, in moderation, and without guilt.
Aunt Dodie’s Chocolate Cake Recipe (a Fontana family favorite)
1 box of yellow pudding cake mix 1 cup oil
1 small box chocolate fudge instant pudding 3 eggs
1 cup sour cream 1 (6 ounces) package chocolate chips (dark)
Mix all ingredients except chips. Grease and lightly flour a bundt cake pan and put 6 heaping tablespoons of batter on bottom. Sprinkle ½ of the chocolate chips on top of this. Add rest of batter and then other ½ of chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. May look wet when it comes out of the oven. Let cool and turn onto serving plate.
(from Cheryl Ottinger in Tell Me More, a Cookbook Spiced with Cajun Traditions & Food Memories)
