Aleteia logoAleteia logoAleteia
Friday 29 March |
Good Friday
Aleteia logo

Daily Poll: Do You Say Grace in Public?

grace poll

Yun Huang Yong - CC

The Daily Catch - published on 09/29/16

Please consider a gift for Aleteia!
Help us spread the joy of Christ's victory.
Aleteia depends on your support.

Join our Lenten Campaign 2024.

DONATE NOW

David Mills dropped the gauntlet back in June, in regard to saying grace before meals in public:

So: If grace is something you say before meals, grace is something you say before meals — including meals in restaurants. If it is right to pray at home before you eat, it is right to pray before you eat the jumbo burger special at Bob’s Barbecue and Car Wash or the foie gras at Francoise’s Incredibly Over-Priced French Restaurant. Doing something at home or with other Christians that you’re afraid to do in public risks Jesus’ rebuke that “Whoever disowns me before men, before my Father in heaven I too will disown him.” Personally, this is a risk I’d try to avoid. […] You give up the chance to be one small sign that the Christian faith is a live option and that some Christians exercise their faith in the world. You refuse — and it is a refusal, not a failure — to offer a small but perhaps powerful challenge to the secularist narrative that almost every American accepts and lives by. You miss the chance to insert Christianity into a public world from which it’s been removed.

He cites many reasons that people might not say grace in public, perhaps they don’t want to draw attention, or maybe they wish to avoid ridicule. Yet, should we not be overjoyed to share in the burden of His cross? What do you think?

Today Tommy Tighe gave us 5 ways to evangelize without seeming to and number 1 on the list was saying grace in public.

Admittedly, this can be tough. In the comfort and privacy of our own home it comes naturally to say grace before enjoying my wife’s delicious Chicken Chile Casserole. In a restaurant, it can seem daunting. You imagine everyone in the place staring while you make the Sign of the Cross as discretely as possible before enjoying that first jalapeño popper. In reality, most people aren’t looking at you — get over yourself!

We felt it prudent to see if there’s been any change in response since the summer. What do you think?

In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. – 2 Timothy 3:12

Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.

jour1_V2.gif
Daily prayer
And today we celebrate...




Top 10
See More