The 5th F of Love

Last weekend, I was cleaning up our house while my housemate Chris, the Middle School Youth Minister, and his bride-to-be, Teresa, were in the kitchen preparing a Sicilian (ie. not Italian) feast for a housewarming party at our humble abode. I think at one point my other housemate Joe, the Police Officer, came home from Mass lookin' all GQ front page because that's just how "Sunday best" he is. After the pasta was made, and the garlic knots baked, we all did some sampling in the kitchen. Chris and Teresa started talking about their engaged couples retreat they recently attended while we were munching on those super-incredibly-muy-delicioso garlic knots.

Such stock photo

Chris made a reference to the 4 F's of married love that they covered during their retreat, and he joked about the 5th F of love.

Before talking about the 5th F of Love, I first must mention the first 4 F's of Love. These are so incredibly crucial in a loving marriage.

Love is...

Free, as in love is freely willed and not forced.

Full, as in love is total and holds nothing back.

Faithful, as in love is unfailing and is exclusive to each other.

Fruitful, as in the love shared between the beloveds is so strong that it overflows, which sometimes results in children, and being open to that possibility.

(jokingly) And fifth-ly, love is...

Food, as in the necessary nutrients that allows one to live so as to be able to love

...and get fat so that the beloved can't run away.

Yes, many insights into love and life permeate within the walls of this Catholic household. Indeed, authentic love mandates the 4 F's, but in a way, Food is necessary too. It's just a bonus that the food happens to be really delicious Italian Sicilian cooking. Chris is one sure lucky guy.

After much laughter and reflection in the kitchen, we continued sampling garlic knots. And we rejoiced all the more later during the actual party with baked pasta, more garlic knots, wine, salad, and cheesecake with choice of caramel, chocolate and/or strawberry topping. Many more laughs. There may have been a game of "salad bowl" (a mix of Taboo/Catch Phrase and Charades) where the invited seminarian tried to trump everyone with Latin phrases, and many lessons were learned that night on the detection of sarcasm.

Consummatum est.
- JD

Garlic knots // Simply Recipes
Pope Francis laughing // Arkansas Catholic