Feeding a community

Finally, someone as authoritative as Bishop Tomas A. Camacho has given voice to the sentiments of families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones and are somehow obligated to feed an entire community every night for the nine-day rosary for the dead or what Chamorros call lisayon matai.

The bishop’s pastoral letter says it well -- that those left behind “are even deader than the dead” because of the practice of serving full course meals to those who attend the rosaries for nine nights.

The bishop’s new policy: No food allowed in eight of the nine nights of the rosary done in any parish church or social hall. On the day of the funeral, food may be served.

With the high cost of living, and the skyrocketing power bills, community members should not expect a family grieving the loss of its loved one to feed them. Coffee, biscuits and bread should be fine, just like in the old days.

If the rosaries are done at home, the family who can afford to feed an entire community can do so. However, according to the bishop, the kind of food served should be healthy, in light of the high rate of diabetes in the CNMI. It’s common knowledge that the food served on many of these occasions can result in a heart attack.

And isn’t it a shame that many in the community attend the rosaries not necessarily to pray for the dead and console the family of the dead, but to have free dinner? Worse, others go there to get food and head home. Heartless.