HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTER (3)

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTER

THEME: In A Pickle!

BY: Deacon Bill Frere

HOMILY FOR MONDAY MAY 2 2022

Gospel – John 6:22-29

Lately my youngest grandson, Nate, has developed a sudden passion for cooking. Some of his dishes, all from scratch, have included huge cinnamon rolls, chicken parmesan and a complete traditional English breakfast (although he wasn’t able to find any blood sausage). And so besides his obvious experience of helping me bake zucchini bread, he reminded me the other day that years ago he and I also made pickles. And he loved those pickles. And now he (and I) have this sudden craving to make and consume those pickles!

One teeny problem! I can’t find the recipe. I have searched high and low the last couple of days for that recipe. Who knew that, over the years, Ginger and I have accumulated over 40 cookbooks. And that doesn’t even include the 3 large binders of hand-me-down, hand-written, and well-worn recipes that make up our bank of favorite dishes! And the pickle recipe is nowhere to be found! Hours were spent searching for that one recipe – all to no avail! It’s a simple quick recipe for a refrigerator cucumber pickle and I just can’t find it! And that just makes the craving for it all the more intense! I guess what I lack in success is made up for with my persistence!

Persistence! That is what we see in today’s Gospel. The people had just been fed by Jesus with the miracle of the loaves and fishes. And they craved more from Jesus – more words, more teachings! And so they search for Him high and low. Not finding Him around the town of Tiberias, they get into boats and travel across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. They are relentless; they are persistent. They will not rest until they find Jesus. And they do finally and Jesus begins to teach them again!

Are you searching for Jesus? Have you found Him? How persistent are you in your search? How relentless? Have you given up the search? Or will you stop at nothing until you find Him?

The search continues! Don’t give up; don’t give in! Be persistent! (In the meantime I am heading back to the kitchen; that pickle recipe has to be somewhere!)

Deacon Bill Frere