Tangy Sourdough and God's Sweet Word

Sr. Margaret Kerry, FSP, draws parallels between our hunger for bread and our hunger for the Word of God.

During this pandemic I joined the ranks of sourdough bread bakers. This popular baking adventure immersed me in amazing alchemy. Wild yeast is alive all around us. Finding a home in a water and flour mixture the yeast needs to be nourished. Then it is on its way to create crusty, deliciously tangy, warm from the oven, bread. It is the simplest of recipes; water, flour, and salt. Sourdough has less gluten then other breads, is easier to digest, is less likely to spike blood-sugar and contains probiotics along with its own natural preservatives.

My path to aficionado began by reawakening a dried starter. Sr. Marlyn Evangelina posted a photo of her perfect sourdough loaf on Facebook. I asked for the recipe. She dried her starter into flakes and mailed them to me. California yeast would soon befriend wild Charleston yeast when awakened.

Advent began early for me. This process would take patient waiting and attentiveness. Memories of freshly baked bread kept me involved. After a week, I began to address the yeast. “Do you want some more flour or water? Are you warm enough? Can I get you anything else?”

This year our religious order celebrates a year of the Bible. The meditative preparation for sourdough bread is a parable for my relationship with God’s Word. Ezekiel was told by God to take the scroll and eat it, then speak the word of God (Ezekiel 2:8-3:4). Our founder Blessed James Alberione realized that people are hungering and thirsting for this Word. We have a need to eat the Word of God, digest it, assimilate it into our being, and bring it to everyone in person, on new media, though actions, and in prayer.

Preparing to “eat” the Word of God is also a process. While eating it is a delight, entering into God’s Word takes preparation. It is a living Word. Like the live jar of sourdough starter, the Bible needs a special place in your home where it will not be ignored. Preparing that place begins with an enthronement ceremony. Then the Bible is kept open in that prayer space where God’s Word is encountered. This relationship with God’s living Word initiates conversation as we pray the Scriptures responding with our own words.

The warm living loaf of God’s bread will permeate your home, inviting every member of the family to eat it often. The Bible in my room is open to Song of Songs 2:10-13, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come.” On the stairway leading to the second floor, the Bible is open at the Beatitudes. As the sisters kiss the open Bible, they read one of the beatitudes. In chapel, the Bible is open to the Psalms since they are prayed here each day as the Liturgy of the Hours.

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Like the live jar of sourdough starter, the Bible needs a special place in your home where it will not be ignored. #catholicmom

Though we are not able to have the Eucharistic presence of Jesus in our homes, we can have the living presence of God through the Scriptures. Scott Hahn reminds us, “The phrase ‘New Testament’ denotes not a text, but an action—not a document, but a sacrament…. Jesus presents himself in word as in the manger, as on the cross, as on the paten. He presents himself not so much to be studied as to be encountered—to be loved, engaged, known, consumed.” The Second Vatican Council emphasizes this. “The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body.”

We know we can’t live on bread alone. We live on “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4 ) May God’s Word create memories in our life of warm encounters and loving challenges. May God’s Word comfort and satisfy the hunger in our soul and body. As Mary may we treasure the Word in our heart (Luke 2:19) so that our response is praise, worship, and encouragement.

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Copyright 2020 Sr. Margaret Kerry, FSP
Images courtesy Daughters of St. Paul, used with permission, all rights reserved.