Better than Loaves and Fishes

This morning, as my daughter and I entered our Sacred Space, we were surprised to find a tray of cupcakes with a note to see one of the older ladies who was preparing for our parish breakfast. This lady told me that a young girl had dropped off the cupcakes this morning. She had made the cupcakes and thought she would bring them to church because she was coming with her grandmother. The young girl was described to me as about 12 years old, wearing a plaid jacket. I found her before Mass and invited her to join us for our Liturgy of the Word with Children and help distribute this thoughtful treat. I had never met the young girl before.

The Gospel was about Jesus' return to the disciples to help them understand all that they had seen and heard, and to call them to be witnesses.

This week as I pondered and prayed, I wondered, if Christ appeared for supper, what would I serve and what would we talk about? And the most important question: considering the diet that he was accustomed to, what would he think of tacos? 

 Our dialogue homily began as usual with a recounting of what we had heard. Then I asked what the children would serve. Our astute listeners replied very quickly: fish, bread and wine (I was pleased with how well they listened). Note that the children have no plans to drink the wine. Then I asked, “If Jesus came to dinner, would it be an ordinary dinner or a special dinner?” Wisely I was told that that depended on how much notice people had. In today's story he just showed up. 

Then we got to the good stuff: chicken, salad with tomatoes, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, grapes... some offered elaborate descriptions of these meals. One little friend suggested she would have yogurt, but at her grandmother's house in St. Lucia! And finally, for dessert there would be cake or cupcakes.

When asked what they would talk about, the conversation became very quiet. It seems many of our friends thought Jesus would talk with the adults about adult stuff. So I suggested, “What if he sat at the kids' table?”

            

For a moment there was silence—and then a collective ah-ha! Jesus loves children, so of course he would sit at the kid's table. They would talk about school, friends, and stuff. Jesus would tell them to love, share, etc.  Remembering that Jesus lives in each of us, our friends were invited to share in the baked treats provided by our new friend. This was our chance to celebrate Jesus at our table. 

After all was said and done, I continued to wonder about this experience. Late Saturday evening I had told only one person about my plans for what the children would be talking about. Until that moment no one else knew that I planned to talk about dining with Christ. So how did the Spirit find a way to act through our new friend and bring this concept to life? 

 After Mass I brought our only remaining cupcake to our pastor. (Again, how did she know how many cupcakes to bring, if she had never been downstairs with us?)  Our pastor had no idea that we had had our own miracle that was better than loaves and fishes. 

 How marvelous the many ways Jesus chooses to show us that he is indeed risen and living among us. Alleluia!!”