Thank God for Beer

Jeremy Trafton of St. Stephen in Anoka hands fellow parishioner Laurie Zahalka a glass of his home-brewed beer, a smoked vanilla porter he calls Holy Smoke, during an event at St. Stephen in Anoka April 21 called Thank God for Beer. This is the second year of the gathering, which was started by Father James Bernard, who was serving at St. Stephen at the time (he now is at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul). He thought it would be a good way to combine his hobby with faith and fellowship. He invited people to bring their own homebrewed beer, or commercially made beer, for guests to sample and cast votes for their favorite. Father Bernard began the evening with a special beer blessing that included the sprinkling of holy water on all those who brought beverages. “This event was just an opportunity to invite the Lord into something that I’m interested in and share it with others,” said Father Bernard, who has been brewing beer for the last 12 years. “I’m not an expert brewer by any means … It’s just something that I enjoy doing, and it’s fun to do with other people.” More than