On the Fourth of July, my wife and I were invited to a picnic at my sister and brother’s in-law’s home in Buffalo. Mary, my wife’s sister, brings out desserts and she is a fantastic cookie baker. On the tray are a variety of cookies, so I reach for one and it was delicious. I ask what’s in the middle of the cookie and Mary responds “cinnamon.” Well, since I am in my “senior status” learning new hobbies, I asked for the recipe. Didn’t need rhubarb, but where does one find “cinnamon chips.” So off I search at TOPS in the baking section and wouldn’t you know it, they have chocolate chips, butterscotch and mint, but no cinnamon. Yes, there I go to Google and it says Wal Mart carries cinnamon chips, but once again I come up empty handed for they have a dozen variety of chips but no cinnamon. Lucky for me I know there’s a bakery supply store called Lori’s In the Rochester regional market. I ask the clerk and he immediately shows me to a section with hundreds of jars that contain all kinds if spices including to my delight cinnamon.
Today’s gospel is a challenge for some of Jesus closest friends, he tells his apostles, time to get going and spread the good news. Notice, he didn’t say advertise on TV, go on the internet, buy billboard space, organize a community fun festival to pack the synagogue. He simply sent his disciples to the villages and we learn that they are able to perform miracles.
Nice story you say, but what does that have to do with us. Don’t you know? Something that Jesus does in all his amazing miracle stories. He collaborates with humanity. He needs Mary to be born in her womb. He needs his disciples to pass around two fish and five loaves to feed five thousand hungry people. He sends his disciples out two by two to spread the good news of God’s love that comes through by their compassion for the sick and possessed.
You are being asked by God this morning to spread the good news and perform miracles. What is the miracle...to pack the pews with young faces who are lost, to bring families and their children to this place to find rest from their chaos of their lives. Believe me, just ask any young parent and they will tell you their life is a rat race.
But you have tried how many times in the past, and when you look around how do you feel? More like a failure. Sounds like Jesus from last week, he had performed amazing feats, brought a child back from the dead, healed the blind, forgave sinners and what’s the response of his neighbors in his own village. Rejection. Did he think he was a failure?
I had this idea that I would bake cinnamon cookies for all of you in church and hand them out after Mass. Following Mary’s recipe, I mixed the ingredients using the cinnamon chips, rolled them out into logs and placed them on the cookie tray into the oven. As I am making the second batch, Susan, my spouse, notices the chips and says are they the right kind for the recipe? In my mind, I’m thinking the clerk said these were cinnamon chips. So, the first batch of cookies are done and I pulled out of the oven. I tasted one cookie and sure enough, she is right. The clerk did not sell me cinnamon chips like chocolate chips, but these were hard like bark, the kind you brew to make herbal tea. I never knew the difference and of course being a novice baker never checked. I had to throw out the whole batch of cookies and the ingredients and felt like a total failure. Maybe I need to give up baking anything. What’s the lesson Jesus is trying to teach me this time.
What was Jesus response when he was not accepted by his neighbors, he simply left his village, told his disciples I need your help in spreading the good news, that’s collaboration.
The challenge for me in making cinnamon chip logs was finding the right kind of cinnamon chips. The lesson from Jesus was to preserve and not give up hope. So, this Sunday, I handed out cookies to everyone as they were leaving church and there were lots of smiles and compliments.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are feeling like a failure in life. Remind them that we have been blessed with spiritual blessings that include love, perseverance compassion and hope. These are the ingredients that will make our lives sweet and joyful again.
