Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A
Fr.
Stitt often says
that
when he sees me working in the kitchen,
it
makes him think of Ready… Set… Cook!—
an
old game show of which I’ve never otherwise heard.
From
the way he describes it,
cooks
would compete against each other
to quickly
prepare a winning meal
with
whatever ingredients were provided.
I’ll
admit:
I rather
like the challenge of coming up with something to serve
based
on the raw materials we just happen to have in the rectory
on
any given day.
Lately,
I’ve had a lot more to work with than usual:
in only
the last two weeks or so,
we’ve
received yellow beans, zucchini,
sweet
peas, sugar snap peas, cucumbers,
tomatoes,
green onions, sweet corn, blueberries,
ice
cream, smoked salmon, several cuts of beef,
maple
syrup, and a few nice bottles of red wine—
all
from the generosity of family, friends, and parishioners.
Many
thanks to everyone who’s shared of their bounty with us!
And,
since Fr. Justin likes vegetables a good bit more than Fr. Tom did,
I’ve
got a lot more room for creativity in the kitchen these days!
I
got to thinking:
my
work in the kitchen
is
an awful lot like my work as a pastor.
You can see what I mean in Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel.
Jesus' heart is moved with pity for that hungry throng,
gathered
around him in a deserted place.
He
finds a way to not only feed them,
but
to teach his Apostles an important lesson, too.
Jesus
does what my grandmother did on countless occasions
to
feed her large family in lean times:
he
uses a couple very simple ingredients to
make enough for a crowd,
and does so by looking up to heaven:
by trustingly placing them—and, above all, himself—
by trustingly placing them—and, above all, himself—
into
the hands of his Father.
The
work of the Church these days—
here
in the North Country, at least—
is often
about finding ways to do more with less.
We
have fewer priests, fewer people,
and
fewer financial resources than in years past.
But
many of the needs we see—
and
to which the Church is called to respond—
are
just as big and urgent as ever.
We
could easily get overwhelmed and discouraged,
as
did the disciples when Jesus said,
“Give
all these hungry people some food yourselves!”
Or
we can roll up our sleeves and get creative,
taking
what we have at hand—however meager it might seem—
and
allowing God to stretch it (and us!) to achieve his purpose.
Over
the past few years,
I’ve
several times heard or read the idea
that
God provides every parish with every gift it needs
in order to accomplish his plan.
in order to accomplish his plan.
The
more I think and pray about it,
the
more and more I believe that is absolutely true.
The
challenge is helping people to discover
that
they’ve been given those gifts—
that
God has called and equipped them for a particular purpose
which
he intends them to fulfill.
And
when I say them, I mean you.
And
when I say you, I mean everybody.
Have
you ever considered
that
there’s a place in the life of the Church
which,
by God’s design, only you can fill?
It’s
certainly a point to ponder!
We
know that, in the kitchen,
the
quality of our cooking depends in large part
on
the quality of the ingredients with which we have to work.
When
it comes to the Church,
are
we bringing our very best forward?
Are
we contributing “the good stuff,”
or
merely our leftovers?
Is what we’re willing to give
in proportion to what we come hoping to receive?
Just
think of what Jesus was able to set out on the table
when
sharing a Last Supper with his disciples:
he
took the very basics—a scrap of bread, a sip of wine—
and
with the creative power found only in the Lord’s hand,
made
them into the means by which
we
can experience his abiding presence on earth
and even now get a taste of heaven.
and even now get a taste of heaven.
If
we could only put ourselves trustingly into the Lord’s hands—
those
hands which cured the sick,
which multiplied the loaves,
which multiplied the loaves,
which
blessed and broke and gave the Bread of Life—
just
imagine what amazing things he could do with us!
Ready? Set? Let's cook!
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