Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

ixing of sour cream, cheddar cheese, cumin and scallions.</li></ul><h1 id="d109">The food is so good we concoct excuses to visit…</h1><p id="9ef0">Like salmon returning to the waters where they were born, people who leave East Lansing make up any excuse they can come up with to return (and go to El Az). I get my haircut nearby every five weeks so I can eat El Az afterward.</p><h2 id="0423">My most beloved meal — and a Friday in Lent…</h2><p id="63a2">A member of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheCatholicGentleman/">The Catholic Gentleman</a> Facebook group (128,000 strong) asked what he could eat on Fridays during Lent — since he hates fish. I recommended <i>anything with cheese </i>(or Middle Eastern food).</p><p id="fa68">Then I realized I’d be at El Az on the first Friday of Lent.</p><blockquote id="a436"><p>“What a great gift!” I thought.</p></blockquote><p id="0792">My favorite El Az foods <i>just so happen to be meatless </i>— just massive amounts of glorious cheeses and gooey sauces.</p><h1 id="c807">Elton John’s words stabbed me: “It’s no sacrifice...”</h1><blockquote id="9c3e"><p>“But it’s no sacrifice. No sacrifice. It’s no sacrifice at all.”</p></blockquote><p id="40cc">Fridays in Lent are about fasting, giving up meat or making some sort of sacrifice. But what am I really giving up if I replace good meat with even more delicious cheese and sauces?</p><p id="e1a4">Having my favorite meal is not exactly a sacrifice (not even close) — and it certainly shouldn’t count as fasting.</p><h2 id="3953">It’s “legal” but it makes me feel like… A Pharisee…</h2><p id="f6b7">The more laws and rules we accumulate in our lives, the easier it becomes to find ways to wiggle around them and <i>totally miss</i> the spirit they were intended to promote.</p><p id="cd53">For example, Salon.com asked, “<a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/02/27/lent-give-up-meat-plant-based-impossible-burger-fake/">Can you eat an Impossible Burger if you’re giving up meat for Lent?</a>’’ We are someone focused on obeying the rules but missing out on the bigger acts of love.</p><p id="c1a8">So how could I eat El Az and still sacrifice? I thought I could skip El Az (a real sa

Options

crifice for me) or go (but skip my beloved cheese dip). My wife said I should go and get <i>her</i> the cheese dip so I went and got the cheese dip “to go.’’</p><h2 id="99e3">Why do we fast? To detach: giving up what is not God…</h2><p id="d961">The idea is to give up something we love and replace it with some other action that will draw us closer to God: A loving self-sacrifice like “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi">The Gift of the Magi</a>’’ where the husband gives up his watch to buy his beloved hair combs as she cuts off and sells her own hair to buy him a watch chain.</p><blockquote id="cc2f"><p>“He’s looking for a transformation of heart,’’ Father Mathias Thelen explains. “He’s looking for love... It’s very easy for us, as Christians, to say, ‘I’m doing this kind of self-denial’ but not focus on the heart. Not focus on growing in love. All the penances that you’re undertaking for Lent are useless if they do not help you grow in love.’’</p></blockquote><h2 id="5308">Sacrifices are for a reason: to help you transform your life</h2><blockquote id="9cde"><p>“We can see this in kind of superficial ways like, ‘OK, we’re giving up meat for Lent on Fridays and yet, we go into Red Lobster and have the most luxurious, delicious meal, right?’’ Father Mathias asks. “We’re kind of missing the spirit of it. It’s not to say we can’t have good-tasting fish… Why do we do any penance? Are we really seeking God or are we seeking ourselves in our penance?’’</p></blockquote><p id="93aa" type="7">“I want to challenge you this Lent to make sure you’re asking God every single day, ‘Lord, how do You want me to grow in love? How do You want me to grow in justice?”</p><blockquote id="addd"><p>“How do you want me to grow into being in the image of Your Son Jesus? How do you want to transform my heart? Unless you’re asking that, there’s a propensity to be proud of all the things we’re doing for God and to completely miss His heart.’’</p></blockquote><p id="b506" type="7">As Marvin Hamlisch wrote: “ Kiss today goodbye and point me toward tomorrow. We did what we had to do. Won’t forget, can’t regret what I did for love.’’</p></article></body>

“Cheese,’’ I Told the Catholic Fish-Hater Asking What to Eat on Fridays During Lent

My Last Meal: Temptation, sacrifice, and self-denial for love…

So Good: If I was being executed and was asked “What do you want for your last meal.’’ I’ve long known the answer. I’d request the above meal: Enchiladas De Jocoque — with the amazing Cheese Dip and home made salsa on the side — served at El Az Taco in East Lansing, Michigan. Photo by Joseph Serwach.

“What do you want for your last meal?” the condemned man is asked before his execution. I’ve long known how I would answer:

A magical meal like no other — from one place...

My Michigan State University classmates stood in line around a block on freezing cold Sundays (when dorms didn’t serve dinner) to get into an elegantly dingy basement (replaced by more refined quarters in 1992).

We weathered those bone-chilling waits for the most amazing Mexican meals.

This Taste of Heaven is called El Azteco aka “El Az…”

It was “our place” then — and has been ever since. Other loves came and went, some for a reason or a season. All needed to know this special place.

When our daughter, Jenny the Lawyer, graduated from MSU College of Law, she wanted her graduation party to be at El Az.

Growing up on Taco Bell (aka Taco Smell) we were in awe when Arturo Santa Cruz brought his recipes inspired by New Mexico and a place called Sonora, Mexico to El Az. Over 36 years, I’ve traveled the world and been unable to find any Mexican food quite as appealing as his hot and spicy dishes, most notably:

The famous Cheese Dip that somehow brings ecstasy to a mixture of sour cream, cottage cheese, Monterey Jack Cheese and a host of other secret ingredients.
The famous El Az De Jocoque Enchiladas, three “lightly fried” corn tortillas stuffed with enticing sauces formed from the mixing of sour cream, cheddar cheese, cumin and scallions.

The food is so good we concoct excuses to visit…

Like salmon returning to the waters where they were born, people who leave East Lansing make up any excuse they can come up with to return (and go to El Az). I get my haircut nearby every five weeks so I can eat El Az afterward.

My most beloved meal — and a Friday in Lent…

A member of The Catholic Gentleman Facebook group (128,000 strong) asked what he could eat on Fridays during Lent — since he hates fish. I recommended anything with cheese (or Middle Eastern food).

Then I realized I’d be at El Az on the first Friday of Lent.

“What a great gift!” I thought.

My favorite El Az foods just so happen to be meatless — just massive amounts of glorious cheeses and gooey sauces.

Elton John’s words stabbed me: “It’s no sacrifice...”

“But it’s no sacrifice. No sacrifice. It’s no sacrifice at all.”

Fridays in Lent are about fasting, giving up meat or making some sort of sacrifice. But what am I really giving up if I replace good meat with even more delicious cheese and sauces?

Having my favorite meal is not exactly a sacrifice (not even close) — and it certainly shouldn’t count as fasting.

It’s “legal” but it makes me feel like… A Pharisee…

The more laws and rules we accumulate in our lives, the easier it becomes to find ways to wiggle around them and totally miss the spirit they were intended to promote.

For example, Salon.com asked, “Can you eat an Impossible Burger if you’re giving up meat for Lent?’’ We are someone focused on obeying the rules but missing out on the bigger acts of love.

So how could I eat El Az and still sacrifice? I thought I could skip El Az (a real sacrifice for me) or go (but skip my beloved cheese dip). My wife said I should go and get her the cheese dip so I went and got the cheese dip “to go.’’

Why do we fast? To detach: giving up what is not God…

The idea is to give up something we love and replace it with some other action that will draw us closer to God: A loving self-sacrifice like “The Gift of the Magi’’ where the husband gives up his watch to buy his beloved hair combs as she cuts off and sells her own hair to buy him a watch chain.

“He’s looking for a transformation of heart,’’ Father Mathias Thelen explains. “He’s looking for love... It’s very easy for us, as Christians, to say, ‘I’m doing this kind of self-denial’ but not focus on the heart. Not focus on growing in love. All the penances that you’re undertaking for Lent are useless if they do not help you grow in love.’’

Sacrifices are for a reason: to help you transform your life

“We can see this in kind of superficial ways like, ‘OK, we’re giving up meat for Lent on Fridays and yet, we go into Red Lobster and have the most luxurious, delicious meal, right?’’ Father Mathias asks. “We’re kind of missing the spirit of it. It’s not to say we can’t have good-tasting fish… Why do we do any penance? Are we really seeking God or are we seeking ourselves in our penance?’’

“I want to challenge you this Lent to make sure you’re asking God every single day, ‘Lord, how do You want me to grow in love? How do You want me to grow in justice?”

“How do you want me to grow into being in the image of Your Son Jesus? How do you want to transform my heart? Unless you’re asking that, there’s a propensity to be proud of all the things we’re doing for God and to completely miss His heart.’’

As Marvin Hamlisch wrote: “ Kiss today goodbye and point me toward tomorrow. We did what we had to do. Won’t forget, can’t regret what I did for love.’’