by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM                                        Ireland                    25.01.2025

The other day I came across this image and for some reason it tugged at my heart!  I am not a baker, but I do recognise the skill.  More importantly, I recognise the love and dedication it takes to pick out all the ingredients, measure, mix and shape the biscuits.  Are they the perfect shape?  No, but it doesn’t matter, it is the love that is poured into the mix with the ingredients.

I feel the same love that God pour into my life by giving me close friends.  Are they perfect, of course not but they know me in all my imperfections and love me despite them.  “Perfect Love casts out fear”, St. John tells us.  I think our deepest fear is that of being rejected.  When we are accepted by a friend, we see the reflection of the love God has for us.  What is my response? Hopefully to respond with love in return, but we are complicated human creatures and we often mis-read the signals.  I want to reach out, but I may end up seeming “suffocating” – we all need our personal space, physically but also psychologically.  That is why mixing, measuring and taking care is so important.

Yes, I will get it wrong some days and have to apologise or make it up with some kind gesture, but I will work at the relationship because it matters to me, and it matters to God.  Few of us will ever have a direct divine revelation of God’s love.  For most of us, it is mediated by the love other people give us and we give in return.

I remember my mother used to bake an apple tart when my older brother came home to visit.  I used to tease her that he was the favourite.  I don’t really think he was – she did spread the love around generally but “home baking” was her visible sign that the person was loved, welcomed and would be fed.  Isn’t that basically the message we want to give all our friends, thanking God for the ability to do so.