Praying in Restaraunts revisited

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EricCKS

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I posted the question of how many did or did not pray before a meal in the restaraunts. I always thought is sent a mixed message to my kids that we did it at home and not where we are served. Soooooo, we have been doing this everytime we eat out and it has been very nice. My wife and I meet for lunch one a month and we do the same. Seems like it is making us stronger in subtle sort of way. If I happen to be alone or with coworkers etc, I usually pray silently to myself, then dig in. If you do not pray when eating out I suggest you give it a try.

Thanks

Eric
 
I usually don’t like to make a spectacle of myself when i am at a restaurant, so I prefer to pray silently.
 
We pray in restaurants before meals. There’s a lot of us so it probably does make a scene but I think it’s very important.
 
We pray before and after meals in public and private. It is a chance to show our reverence for the gift of the meal and maybe to show that all Catholics are not heathens – just us;)

We think that we may remind someone to pray or that some of us still believe in God and that it is our Christian duty to be witnesses of God’s love and to be true to ourselves.

I know that society doesn’t want us to make spectacles of ourselves, but if we can’t say grace, we might let too many other religious expressions be taken from us.

Besides, we quietly say grace and give thanks. That isn’t obnoxious unless one is totally opposed to prayer.

My husband heard that someone was encouraged to return to the faith after seeing a family in a restaurant pray. Don’t know if that is true, but it probably is not a bad choice.
 
Our pastor always wears his clerical collar. When I take him out for a meal, he leads the prayer in a low voice. I’m sure there are those watching to see if we do pray.

Deacon Tony SFO
 
Recently, while on vacation, we went out to dinner at a restaurant that turned out to be “Family Style.” In other words, the 4 of us sat at a table with two people we didn’t know. Well, we usually say a quiet grace at restaurants, but had never encountered this situation before. After a few looks between my husband and I, we quietly (and quickly) said grace with the kids. I felt SO self-conscious. But the husband of the other couple said, “That’s beautiful to hear.” (or something like that) What a reassurance to me that not only did we not appear too freakish, but we may have helped spark a little inspiration in our dinner companions! I will feel so much more confident if I’m in that situation again.
 
My husband and I always pray before our meals, at home or in a restaurant. It is our custom that whoever has chosen the restaurant has the honor of saying the prayer (spontaneous type). Occasionally I will feel a little self-conscious, depending on where we are, but I offer my momentary discomfort to Jesus. We pray aloud, but in a low conversational tone.

Often times as we finish our prayer we look up to see a server waiting for us to finish. We consider that could be an important witness for that person. Not that we are so holy, because we’re a long way from it, but that we all need to give thanks to God for all good gifts.

One Sunday morning after Mass we went to McDonald’s for breakfast, and after our prayer, a fellow who was sweeping the floor gave us a very heart-felt “God bless you!” That made my day, that it made his day!
 
We always pray at home and in restaurants. We have been doing it so long, our kids would never let us get away with not doing it.

I’m puzzled as to how a short, quietly reverent prayer before meals could be considered making a spectacle of one’s self. It’s not like your’re having a pentecostal prayer meeting, or anything. Most people, I’m convinced, don’t even notice our family saying grace, being otherwise occupied with their own meals or conversation. I think in general that people imagine they are being observed by other people more than they actually are.

In all the years we’ve said grace in public, we have yet to have someone stand up on their table and denounce us as Catholics. In fact we have never had a negative comment. Our experience, when anyone has said anything at all, has been like the previous posters, positive. People smile at us, or come over to our table and say how beautiful it is to see a family say grace together. One time, I heard a little girl at the next table ask her Mommy why we made the sign of the cross. “That’s because they’re Catholics, honey,” she told her.

As for what others might be thinking: I have no way of knowing, I’m not doing it to impress them, and it doesn’t concern me. My concern, like the the leper in today’s reading, is to show my gratitude to God for the good things he has given me and mine.
 
Fidelis,

I like your style. The first few times I (we) felt unconfortable but now we know we are doing right by our savior and right for our family. One small step for man…

Thanks

Eric
 
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ekblad7:
We pray in restaurants before meals. There’s a lot of us so it probably does make a scene but I think it’s very important.
Click to expand...
What a nice scene it is though. 👍
 
We pray in restaurants.

Why should I be any less grateful to God for this meal vs. one that was served at home.

Especially in light of last Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 17:11-19) about the 10 lepers who were cured, but only 1 came back to thank Jesus.

And that leper came back “praising God in a loud voice”. If that leper was making a spectacle of himself, Jesus certainly didn’t mind. 😉
 
Quite a large 2-family combined group of us were out to dinner together. We prayed. After the prayer, the server came up and said “you are Catholic!”. She had recently moved to the area from out of the country and did not know how to find a Catholic Church - until she saw us making the sign of the Cross and praying.

The town where this took place has a HUGE Catholic population, and this eating place is popular and packed every night. You’d think there would be prayer going up all over that place.

Kage
 
Praying at restaraunts, beginning with the Sign of the Cross is a great way to spread the Gospel. I was at a crowded McDonald’s for lunch one day and I saw a young girl (probably about 16) make the Sign of the Cross and say her prayer to herself. I was so overjoyed at the sight of this that, on the way out, I gave her this antique Miraculous Medal that I used to keep in my Rosary case.

Another time… I was out with my extended family and a friend of our family, who is Jewish, was with us. I asked him if he would also like to lead a prayer in Hebrew before we ate. He was very frank in telling me that Jewish people do not pray in public, especially amongst “gentiles”.
 
I pray before meals whether at home or in the restaurant. And though I can understand feelings of being uncomfortable that would not stop me. My wife and I have our preschool aged son lead the prayer when he wants to which helps him develop his prayer life in a simple way. I think society in general makes it more comfortable to do the wrong thing and uncomfortable to do the right thing. I have tried to make this simple prayer a part of my life so that it is a natural part of meal time. I am not always grateful for all my other blessings but I cannot deny that the food I eat is a blessing from God and it can be for me a foundation to build upon to be grateful for all of God’s Blessings. It also helps to keep me praying always because I am always eating :).

If I am alone I will pray silently and make a subtle sign of the cross. If I am with my family we will pray quietly though my son can be a little loud when he leads :-).
 
We always say the Grace before meals.
However just like at home forget to say the grace after.
 
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