Religion

On Sunday in every large American city you will find Catholic Americans performing an ancient food ritual: the transubstantiation of wine and bread into what they believe is the body and blood of Christ. In the same city, Eastern Orthodox Christians perform a similar rite, though they use different bread and believe that the food remains food as well as becomes the essence of God. Nearby, Methodist Christians engage in a variant of the same ceremony, but they probably use grape juice, since their church traditionally frowns upon alcohol. Perhaps they are using Welch’s Grape Juice, invented and patented by a Methodist layman to serve as a communion substitute. Elsewhere in this American city, Hindu Americans perform a puja offering of sweets and fruits to the Hindu Gods. Sikhs may also be gathering for the free public meal, the langar, that marks their worship and community ethos. Two days earlier on Friday night the Jewish residents of the city welcomed the weekly holiday of Shabbat through the ceremonial use of wine and the braided egg-bread, challah. Perhaps it is also the Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha, and American Muslims take part in the ritual slaughter of an animal to provide meat to the poor.