St. John the Baptist Day — June 24

Last year on June 24 I made a serious post, which I invite you to read (again). This year I'll take a slightly different approach.

I think that the general mood of Catholics — indeed of all Christians — should be one of celebration since we are redeemed and have the promise of eternal life. But there are times when our celebration should be especially clearly expressed. If I were not such an introvert, I would have invited some people to celebrate St. John's Day with me. But I did celebrate it nonetheless. I started after evening prayer on the 23rd. The day is such a biggie in the church calendar that it starts the evening before, just like the Jewish sabbath.

So last night I treated myself to a dinner of steamed clams, boiled lobster, and corn on the cob. I had Weißbier (a German specialty beer, generally associated with summer — made with wheat and slightly cloudy and slightly sour) with the clams. With the lobster I had another German beer, called Aventinus. It's also made with wheat but it's a "double bock," made with twice the usual amount of malt, so it's richer and stronger. And for Aventinnus the malt is roasted prior to brewing, so it's a dark beer. Very flavorful, almost chocolaty. But this was even special for Aventinus. A while back the brewers had the idea of aging some of their beer. The beer I had last night was brewed in 2002, and it was smooth and luscious. Apart from the enhanced quality, I also liked having a beer from 2002 because it was made before my mother died, as well as before my latest trip to Germany. So since it was in existence back then, I feel that drinking it somehow links me to my mother's lifetime as well as to that German trip. Anyway, it was a fine dinner.

Today, I went to a deli and got clam chowder and a big "American Hero" sandwich (pastrami, cole slaw, russian dressing, cheese, on a sub roll). The beer to accompany it was Harpoon single hop ESB. And then for dinner tonight I went to a restaurant which has been recommended to me a couple of times, the Blue Ox, in Lynn, MA. There I had oysters on the half shell, a bourbon manhattan, a Kobe beef sirloin, and a glass of pinot noir. All very tasty, and there was no room left for dessert.

My opinion is that, contrary to some commercials for chocolate, there is nothing inherently "sinful" about enjoyable food, even if it is very, very enjoyable, as long as one doesn't become a glutton. But as I said at the beginning, we are supposed to be celebrating our redemption. There are times for penance, and obviously our celebration shouldn't include things that are really sinful, but the general mood is joy.