In his new book Custodians of Wonder, Eliot Stein writes,
So often, we hear stories about the first person to do something: the innovators, the pioneers, the ones who move us forward. But rarely is there a whisper for the last person to carry on a tradition, or a pause to look back and consider how these rites have shaped us and the places we come from.
Stein’s insights form the backbone of a fascinating new book for pastors. Priests should know; they are as Paul said, “stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). They’re not innovators; they’re recipients. Pastors pass on tradition, entrusted with rituals, presence, and community to preserve and promote for future generations.
Stein’s book gives us a glimpse into the “last” people who know how to pass something along. For instance, for over 200 years, the rural village of Lula on the island of Sardinia comes alive twice a year, on May 1 and October 4. Twice each year the sanctuary of San Francesco in the village hosts a festival celebrating what is the rarest pasta on earth called su filindeu. The recipe itself started 300 years ago and has been passed down among the women of the village ever since. The process of making this delicate pasta, razor thin, thinner than angel hair, is so intricate that very few know how to replicate it. The priest who oversees the feast and blesses the filindeu, Antonio Coseddu, says, “Su filinedu is more than a food, it’s a sacred host. Just as you can’t have a mass without communion, you can’t have the Feast of Saint Francesco without su filindeu.1
As you steward the bread and wine this week, remember we celebrate Jesus, the “pioneer of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-20). You carry on what he has entrusted to you. Praise the Lord.
1Eliot Stein, Custodians of Wonder (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2024), 96-97.