By Felipe Sánchez
Special to The Texas Catholic
PLANO — St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Plano hosted its second Hot Wings Challenge on March 8 after the 5 p.m. Mass.
Organized by youth ministry coordinator Bre Benavidez, the event drew families for an evening of fun that featured a challenge involving Father Jason Cargo, parish pastor; Father Peter Whitfield, parochial vicar; Deacon Luis Boy; and newcomer Deacon Nick Weiss.
“Hot Ones” is a talk show on the YouTube channel First We Feast where host Sean Evans interviews celebrities while they eat buffalo wings with hot sauce that increases in spice level with each set of questions. A year ago, St. Mark the Evangelist took this concept and applied its own spin to it to turn it into a parish-wide event. This year, Benavidez went through 10 sets of three questions, starting as she and the clergy took the first bite of buffalo chicken with very mild sauce.
The origin story
“Last year, I was talking with our youth minister and just looking at something that can bring families together,” Father Cargo said. “This has worked in other places, and I’d seen it in other places, so we threw around the idea that we could host something like this.”
Father Whitfield had a different experience, since this was his first year participating in the challenge.
“It came about because I received an email in August or July inviting me to be a part of it. I don’t know how it started last year, but some terrible person had this idea,” he joked. “Whoever they are, may the Lord have mercy on their soul.”
After Father Cargo did some research on the show, he could not pass up the opportunity to incorporate it in the parish.
It was not until he watched 10 episodes that he realized this event would be worth doing.
“People want to hear what we’re talking about, what we’re thinking about,” Father Cargo said. “So many times, they hear us from the pulpit, but they don’t hear other things.”
Like Father Whitfield, this marks Deacon Weiss’ first “Hot Wings” experience.
“I was meeting all the staff, saying hi to everyone, and the youth minister comes up to me and says, ‘We’ve got this Hot Wings challenge in March.’ Sure! Why not,” he said. “Then I thought to myself, ‘What have I done?’”
Getting prepared
To prepare, the priests took similar approaches.
“I ate nuts and then I had half a shot of olive oil with some bread just to coat the stomach before eating the hot stuff,” Father Cargo said.
“I usually naturally eat a lot of spicy food,” Father Whitfield said. “I bought some hot sauce. It’s probably equivalent to a number five here, and I was putting it on everything and then putting red pepper flakes on all my food. I ate some toast with olive oil; and then more immediate preparation was putting myself in the hands of the Lord.”
“The only thing that I did prior to this was to take a little bit of Pepto hoping to get my stomach covered,” Deacon Boy added.
Advice for future hosts
The clergy singled out building community as the main reason for planning an event like this.
“This is just a fun event where people can get to know you,” Father Cargo said. “Be not afraid to do something like this or something similar to be able to bring about greater community in your parish.”
“Be prepared for the consequences,” Father Whitfield teased. “One nice thing about an event like this is there was a wide swath of people. It builds parish community.”
“Have fun, embrace the pain, embrace your cross for the joy of others,” Deacon Weiss quipped.
It also will not be the last time St. Mark will do the event.
“It looks like it might be an annual tradition now,” Father Cargo said.
Cutline for featured image: From left, Father Jason Cargo, Deacon Luis Boy, Deacon Nick Weiss, and Father Peter Whitfield participate in St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Parish’s second Hot Wings Challenge on March 8 in Plano. (Felipe Sánchez/Special Contributor)
