I think I know what the problem is, Father Z.

I am fond of Fr. Z's blog. I'd never eat anything he makes (too fussy for me) but I actually like his food posts. They're interesting. He gets a lot of criticism for the food posts and I think it really bewilders and annoys him. The problem is, I think, that Father spent way too much time living in Europe. Americans love food, (my family members like talking about what we ate last night and what we're going to eat tomorrow) but a lot of what Father cooks is so far beyond the average American's taste or wallet depending on where you live that a small but vocal number of his readers find it very irritating.

And then there's the other problem. In the last 40 years Catholics have been badly burned by distracted priests. We get nervous when a priest seems to be passionate about something other than the priesthood. It's not fair but too many of us have seen motorcycle priests, ventiloquist priests, priests who were experts in Waterford crystal (at parish expense), priests who spent more time in their studios painting abstract art than in the confessional, priests who like to travel with lay people to beach houses rather than pilgrimage sites, priests who rock and roll, priests who never seem to be in the parish because they're doing whatever their hobby is.... and people are bitter and distrustful.

I don't think that Father's food post critics really want him to live on one baked potato a day or beans and soup like a Carthusian but the food posts do strike a nerve. Again, I'll say it's not fair but dear, dear priests so many American Catholics are walking wounded and prone to lash out at the slightest provocation. Sorry.