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Yesterday was interesting! I worked the night shift Tuesday into Wednesday, and then took a long nap. (I’m still feeling the effects of a disrupted sleep schedule.) Then, after lunch, I had a conversation with someone, which provided much food for thought. I’m still unpacking it! One major insight came from reference to John Paul II’s emphasis on human dignity. This concept is so important, and so lacking in our society today. Our culture stresses “work, work, work,” as if this is all that life is about…as if our worth, as persons, is summed up in our “productivity,” and as if we, human beings, were merely robots to be used for convenience. This poisonous attitude filters into our lives, even as Christians. Yesterday’s conversation increased my awareness of this. It resonated deeply in my own heart, this realization that failure to respect human dignity is at the root of so much stress and suffering. When we, as persons, get frustrated, when we feel unappreciated, taken for granted, and worn out, how often is it connected with this issue? As baptized human persons, we are children of God, made in His image. We have inherent worth, which is not tied up in “what we do.” There’s more to be said on this topic than can be covered in a short blog post, but I’d encourage you (and me) to read more from St. John Paul II’s teaching on the dignity of the human person, and allow it to shape your interactions with other people. 
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 Earlier this month, we had a wonderful OktoberFest party in our activity room. It was great, but the staff who put it on over-budgeted a little on the soft pretzels. The leftovers got put in a plastic bag and stowed away in the fridge.
Monday, the re-appeared again, and were going to get tossed since they weren’t exactly fresh anymore. Before that could happen, I grabbed the bag and said I’d take them. Bringing them to the conference room where we eat our meals, I ended up sampling one. They weren’t too bad (but not too good, either). Then, I had an idea – why not make bread pudding? Salted caramel’s become quite popular lately, right? I did a little research, and, sure enough, “salted caramel pretzel bread pudding” is a thing! Multiple recipes online confirmed my hopes. Rather than go through the trouble of making a fancy salted caramel sauce, though, I decided to resort to my “tried and true” recipe which I had come up with during the bagel inundation of 2019/20. The salt from the pretzels would add a wonderful dimension to this recipe; also, soft pretzels are similar in texture to bagels, so it should work out fine, I thought. The batch made two pans of “salted caramel pretzel bread pudding,” which turned out to be very tasty. We enjoyed it with our lunch that day. Afterwards, we stored some away in the fridge, put I still had a larger pan untouched. I stuck it in the activity room fridge, planning to serve it for the residents’ snack-time sometime soon. Yesterday, I found out that they were having a dance with accordion music in the afternoon. I asked our activity director when snack would be, and found out that she was actually wanting something a little more special (than the customary “package deal”) for the occasion. This would be the perfect way to use my bread pudding, I figured! I would coax residents down for the afternoon’s entertainment with the small of delicious caramel bread pudding warming in the oven. Sometimes people are less than eager to attend these events, unfortunately, and we’re not opposed to a little good old fashioned bribery at times. Let it be known: they polished off the whole pan!  As I glanced over Tuesday’s Mass readings, the refrain of the assigned responsorial psalm caught my attention: “Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.”
What a simple, yet beautiful prayer! It resonated deeply in my heart, which has been heavy again of late, amidst some challenging days and circumstances. This experience, which I will have to delve into more deeply during my prayer time tomorrow, is evidence of the quote from Hebrews, which is used in the gospel acclamation: “The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” I am grateful for this word, alive in our lives, which helps bring us to the freedom Christ offers, as St. Paul so beautifully stated in tomorrow’s epistle: “For freedom Christ set us free.” In closing, may I ask for your prayers in these challenging times, that His mercy may come to me in abundance? |
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