Archbishop Sheen’s epic meatloaf — and its surprising ‘appley’ ingredient!
One family discovers Archbishop Fulton Sheen's meatloaf recipe.
13 days ago
The headline highlights an Archbishop Sheen meatloaf recipe and says it contains a surprising “appley” ingredient. The available information does not identify the ingredient or provide details about the recipe.
Catholic symbolism of food in liturgical practice
In Catholic liturgy, food is not merely decorative symbolism. It expresses God’s gift of creation, human labor, communion, sacrifice, and the promise of eternal life. This meaning reaches its fullness in the Eucharist.
Bread is the central food symbol of the liturgy.
The breaking of the bread also has symbolic force: it represents Christ’s self-giving and the distribution of divine grace among the members of the Church.
Wine carries several related meanings:
The small amount of water mixed with the wine traditionally signifies the union of Christ with his members and of the Christian people with Christ.
Fish was an early Christian symbol of Christ and of Eucharistic nourishment. The Greek word ichthys was associated with the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior. Early Christian imagery connected fish with the Eucharist and with Christ feeding the faithful.
The fish therefore recalls both Christ’s identity and his gift of himself as spiritual food.
The pelican became a symbol of Christ’s self-sacrificing love. Medieval Christian tradition associated the pelican with the belief that it feeds its young from its own blood. For this reason, the hymn Adoro te devote addresses Christ as the “loving Pelican,” expressing the mystery of the Eucharist as self-giving love.
The Eucharist is fundamentally a sacred meal, but it is more than an ordinary meal. Sharing one bread and one cup signifies communion with God and with one another, reconciliation, and the gathering of the Church into the kingdom.
Thus, Catholic food symbolism moves in several directions at once:
creation → human labor → offering → sacrifice → communion → eternal life.
Bread and wine remain recognizable as food and drink, yet through the Eucharistic mystery they become the sacramental signs—and, after consecration, the true Body and Blood—of Christ, who gives himself to nourish and unite his Church.