Baking Bread
Next week I will go to home visit my family. Like always, my mom will have all the treats ready for her son whom she sees for just a few days every few years. Those mom’s breakfasts! I can’t wait to taste again that fresh crispy bread, right from the bakery first thing in the morning. The baker spends all night in his workshop to have them ready, right from the oven, still hot… and so delicious. What an amazing experience it must be to bake bread for others…
It’s 10 o’clock in the evening. I just came back from the church where a number of parishioners were cleaning the entrance windows, decorating the lobby for the Golden Anniversary celebrations, and setting up tastefully adorned tables and chairs in the De Mazenod Center for the social. The Basilica 50th Anniversary Choir, during the final practice before the big day, sang “Glory, glory, alleluia!” with such resonance that it gave me goose bumps. The hauntingly beautiful trumpet accompaniment echoed through this hallowed hall, no doubt raising the ghosts of former pastors and choir members who are now singing in the heavenly chorus.
Yesterday a number of ladies descended on the Church with buckets and cloths to freshen the pews and to clean everything that needed to be cleaned – even the Stations of the Cross got a good dusting, all done to the motivating rhythm of ABBA’s greatest hits playing on the sound system. Everybody was in such a good spirit, enjoying the moment spent in community, sharing the excitement of preparation for the upcoming special occasion… the same kind of spirit I imagine which exists in those late night hours in the bakery “baking bread”.
And then I thought, “Isn’t this what it’s all about?” Celebrating 50 years of the community of faith is like baking bread. Putting all the ingredients together – our personal gifts and talents – embracing our Baptismal commitment, mixing and nurturing, watching it grow… and all in order to share the bread at the Eucharistic table.
Fr. Jarek Pachocki, OMI
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