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Patalinghug is all about people sharing their thoughts and feelings at the dinner table.

The native Filipino, who grew up breakdancing, practicing the Filipino martial art of Arnis, and having big, after-church chicken dinners at his family's Baltimore home, wants more Americans to see dinner his way, and not just as gobbling down food between previously scheduled events.

In fact, in his book and whenever he goes to dinner in other people’s homes, he urges people to make each meal as close to Thanksgiving dinner as possible.

Still, he has nothing against fast food itself. ‘‘It’s the mentality behind it that makes us not slow down, not come together as a family, not develop the relationships that are fostered at the home,” he said. ‘‘I have no trouble with people bringing fast food, just eat it together, slowly, and say prayer beforehand.”

Patalinghug, 37, moved to Emmitsburg from St. John Catholic Church in Westminster in July after his appointment to the seminary. It was in Westminster that, while cooking monthly meals for his fellow priests, the cookbook — and the idea of a TV show based on the same concept — took shape.

‘‘It started off as a joke,” said Patalinghug, who was ordained in 1999 after studying theology for five years in Rome. ‘‘Then it became a movement of actually going to families’ homes, getting to know them around the dinner table, and realizing that this is a very theological thing.”

Proceeds from book sales go to compensate the project’s employees, charities and to fund the TV show. Patalinghug said he will not personally make any money on the project.

His fellow priests and seminarians played a big role in persuading him that a priest cooking show wasn’t ‘‘schmaltzy,” but a creative way for a religious leader to reach his flock.

Tim Watkins of Leo McWatkins Films in Baltimore County, a parishioner at St. John Catholic Church in Westminster, agreed and produced the pilot episode of “Grace Before Meals.“ The episode is circulating in pre-production, Patalinghug said.

He sees the show as a timely pitch, fitting in with Pope John Paul II’s advocacy for creative religious teaching, and a wave of shows hitting networks such as The Food Network.

‘‘Sometimes it’s the safest thing to watch on TV,” he said.

Meanwhile, Patalinghug manages the seminarians, or men studying to become priests, who have already completed one year of pre-theology education, and who then work in health care, education and evangelization outside of the seminary's grounds for four to six years. Patalinghug prepares them for their experiences in the world, “where head knowledge meets reality,” and supervises and evaluates them.

Cincinnati-native James Boric, now in his first year studying at the seminary, joined in some of Patalinghug’s fraternal dinners in Westminster, and was impressed by how Patalinghug went out of his way to make dishes that Boric, who does not eat seafood or red meat, could eat.

‘‘I like to think that I have forced him to become a better chef,” Boric, 29, wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette, adding that Patalinghug’s breaded portabello mushroom salad was noteworthy.

Patalinghug is ‘‘one of the guys who helped me discern my vocation to the priesthood.”

Patalinghug himself took the ‘‘slow road to the priesthood,” he said. It was while studying political science and journalism at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus that ‘‘the thought [of becoming a priest] entered my heart,” he said, ‘‘but my mind refused to entertain the thought.”

Years later, he is looking forward to cooking his own family’s Christmas dinner in Baltimore. Patalinghug is planning to spend a lot of time in the kitchen because he is expecting more than 50 relatives and friends.

Such feasts are a perfect example of how a dining room can double as a church. ‘‘I’m not an experienced chef,” he said. ‘‘But I do cook a lot, and I do use it as a tool to strengthen relationships.”

To learn more

Visit gracebeforemeals.com