Chapter 3: Kitchen
Or…, “What’s Cooking in Your Kitchen”
When I think of a “Kitchen”, images of family and friends gathered in the most visited and used room in our house enter my brain. Also, memories of my continuing apprenticeship as the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer in our humble abode. My bride chides me repetitively about cooking food to quickly and with far too much heat. I counter weakly with a statement like, “… well, some like it hot” which usually brings a rebuttal of, ”… darlin’, no one likes it burned, or … you’re cooking the flavor out of it!” If we are not careful, life can be so stressful that we run the risk of burn out or cooking the flavor of life out of us and those we love.
Allen Hunt and his family encountered that scenario. Faced with radical surgery, two miscarriages, melanoma, and the added burden of being 1,000 miles from home. Allen links holiness to the kitchen when in fact, in his own admission, the connection is not so obvious. He does so because of the impact that Father Caj’s had on his life. Father Caj’s life of giving, service and devotion to prayer led Allen to conclude that Jesus and Father Caj were good friends. What a compliment! The fact that they often met in the kitchen was the basis for the title of this chapter.
As we delve further into this chapter, in my mind at least, a picture of a kitchen with a stew slowing cooking in a crock pot emerges. We are preparing this meal – our lives - for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just as Allen and his family were being forged deeply in a crucible of suffering, God was slowly drawing them to Him in a way that they had never imagined.
The result of this “trial by fire” is that God intends to make us holy. The only question is whether we will cooperate with His intention now or will we wait for him to cook up a new batch with us.
Scripture tells us that Saint Paul coached early Christians on how to live. It is important not merely that we think rightly, but also that we behave and live rightly. Why? To please God.
Saint Paul’s receipt for our “stew” is quite simple:
I love you.
I give thanks for you.
Jesus is coming, so please God – rather than ourselves.
God wants us to be holy.
Holiness means not repaying evil with evil, but seeking to do good.
Put the ingredients together, slowly cook under a gentle and loving fire (life) and you yield the climax of Saint Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: our destiny of holiness.
The spices of this stew (our life) are suffering (bitter herbs), prayer (sweetener), service (salt), and generosity (secret ingredients – I would tell you, but then I would have to … well, you know)! When we suffer, we are being conformed to the image of Jesus. When we pray, we are being made holy in the image of Jesus. When we quietly serve a person in need, we are being shaped into the image of Jesus. When we give generously, our heart is being remade into the image of Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Wow! I want to make/taste/live this stew!
Allen emphasizes that God will do it. It is not you or I that produce holiness. We are called to be holy. The holiness comes from Him – not from us. That holiness originates on the altar of church where Jesus feeds us with His own body and His own blood.
The example cited by Allen of Sister Diane and her devotion to prayer and the Mass simply enforce the overwhelming effect such devotion can have in our lives – if we let it. Devotion to God was not something Sister Diane did – it defined who she was! You pray, you make time for worship – together they produce holiness – the best version of yourself.
Allen closes the chapter with the story of Pope John Paul II’s attempted assassination by Mehmet Ali Agca. Pope Paul’s message of prayer, forgiveness, and compassion are key ingredients in this “stew” as was Saint Paul’s instructions to the Thessalonians, “See that none of you repay evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all”.
We are all called to holiness. Be careful with life’s ingredients, cook them very slowly and hopefully over a low heat. Maybe dinner (our lives) will be well done and deliciously spent/served/consumed before the smoke alarm goes off in the kitchen of life!
In His Service,
Saint Anthony of Padua
One of the most powerful photographs I have ever seen is the one taken of JPII meeting with his assailant and would be assassin. At the time I saw it, I was a nominal Christian and an Episcopalian, but I was struck by the power of the event. I remember thinking, "Of course the Pope forgives him He has to. He has no other choice. That is what Popes do." That sentiment has reared its head in my mind many a time after that. for it is the simple truth for all of us: like JPII, we, too, have no other choice. The truth is, if we are to claim the names Catholic and Christian, there is a great deal we must do (forgive, among others) and must not do (hate, among others). The call to holiness is real and powerful and it requires our cooperating with God's grace even as it results from an infusion of that grace (part of the mystery), One thing I realized when I really began to understand the Catholic life is that we take it very seriously that we are to be holy--perfect, even as He is perfect--and that begins not in Heaven, but in the here and now. It is a combination of grace and will--doing that which we are called to do even as we resent--or resist--doing it. And through the experiences of our lives, the mysteries of grace, the power of the sacraments, the devotion of prayer, and the assistance of the saints, we can get there. Slowly, haltingly, with lots of detours and ruts in the road....but we can get there.....Martha
ReplyDeleteMartha, thank you for your insight into our calling of holiness. I have wondered if God's grace of allowing us "Free Will" in our lives was just part of the purification process in our "crucible" of life.
ReplyDeleteIn His Service
St. Anthony of Padua
I think Martha's statement says so much! The image of Pope John Paul meeting with the man who tried to kill him and almost did is an amazing example of Christ's power! Often we don't stop to think of the severity of the injuries the Pope had to live with after the attempt: He had to have an ostomy for some time and of course was affected by the injuries for the rest of his life. He had daily suffering, not just one traumatic event that he could live through, and put behind him. It was a daily stuggle with pain, incovenience, and disfigurement. Yet he was able to go and forgive the man who had done this to him! The amazed look on his assailant's face says so much! The power of Christ's forgiveness is shown there. I just think this should speak to all of us that have a grudge or get mad at a family member or someone at work for their irritating ways. We all struggle in some way or other, and sometimes do things to irritate one another, often without even meaning to. Sometimes we just can't quite manage live up to the task at hand and take our frustrations out on others. If Pope John Paul could forgive as he did, maybe we could try not to get exasperated at others in the little things that irritate us and sometimes make us snap at others impatiently in our lives. I love what Marha said about us having the assitance of the saints, sacraments, prayers, and grace of God. And I love that each week we have the Eucharist in which to rededicate ourselves.
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