Have you ever wondered about the emphasis in our faith — including during Mass — on wine?
We’re not talking about overdoing it. We’re talking about the role it has played from the first miracle of Jesus (at the behest of the Blessed Mother) to the Last Supper.
And before: It goes back at least to Noah — who grew a vineyard after the Flood.
Never mind King David.
Specifically, red wine. That’s the kind most prevalent in ancient Israel, according to inscriptions on jugs. And it fits: Jesus said it would represent His Blood, which red does, as bread represented His Body.
Back then, of course, it was healthful bread (whole grain). Many of the very foods they had in olden times are mentioned on “top-ten” healthy lists: olive oil, fish, nuts, whole-grain bread (as opposed to “whole wheat”), vegetables, and fruits (especially figs).
Is wine healthful?
We’ve all heard how research shows in moderate quantities, this is can be. “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments,” advised Saint Paul (1 Timothy 5) for those in gastric distress.
It may be stronger now than in olden times.
One needs to consider that.
But there always has been that side of it: potentially intoxicating effects (see Noah, and what happened to him after growing the vineyard) but uplifting, when used in the right way.
Was red wine just grape juice back then (as some Protestants believe)?
Psalm 104 says wine “makes the hearts of men glad.” (Grape juice is healthy but doesn’t make you all that happy.) Jesus complained that when he drank, people called Him a drunkard; if wine didn’t cause people to become intoxicated, there would not have been such a statement.
Meantime archeologists have uncovered a 3,700-year-old wine cellar in the ruins of a Canaanite palace in Israel and chemical analysis revealed the sophistication of the day’s wine-making techniques, reports The Guardian of London. Moreover, evidence indicates just what Scripture relates: that wine of high quality was reserved for banquets, such as weddings.
Near what is now Nahariya in northern Israel, researchers have found forty ceramic jars, each large enough to hold about sixty quarts. The residue was tested and chemical analyses indicated the jars held red wine and possibly also white. Mainly red.
There are a number of things in wine, and especially red wine, that may be of benefit, starting with the fact that moderate alcohol seems to “thin” out the blood (sort of like turpentine, when the paint is too thick). It may break up plaque. It may prevent clots. There are also “anti-oxidants” such as resveratrol in it. Oxidants are “free radicals” (very active, unbalanced molecules) that can cause cancer as well as other disease; anti-oxidants neutralize them.
Thus, besides helping reduce the risk of heart and circulatory problems (which can lead to everything from macular degeneration to dementia), red wine may also aid in preventing certain cancers — although in excess alcohol can cause cancer (and has been implicated in breast and pancreatic malignancies).
Consequently, a glass of red wine for women and one or two for men, several days of the week (with a meal), can help to fight heart and other disease, notes a nutrition site. “Any more than that however may be doing more harm than good.”
All in balance.
All in moderation. If it causes intoxication, or any other imbalance, it is over the body’s limit — unhealthful, as well as morally tainting (as many unhealthy practices are). Jesus would never have approved of getting drunk. But God put many things on this earth for our discovery; for our benefit; for our enjoyment. Also, to test our discipline. Wine can be a curse or a blessing. Isn’t just about everything on earth like that?
