That Everyone Might Have Food
There is an old monastic story about a monk who received a gift and quietly passed it on to another brother, setting off a kind of chain reaction. The gift moved from brother to brother, until it finally returned to the one who had set it in motion.
This story, which I heard years ago, came back to me recently when we received a bread slicer from On the Rise, a Capuchin bakery in Detroit. They had two, so they shared one with us. It turned out to be a providential gift. Not long afterward, a bakery in Milwaukee began donating bread they were unable to sell — beautiful loaves of high-quality, artisanal bread.
Once sliced, the bread made its way to the tables of our soup kitchen and into the hands of our guests, many of whom took it home with them. Still, there was often far more bread than we could use. So I loaded my entire car trunk with loaves and brought them to another food pantry we work closely with, wondering whether they would be able to manage it — after all, bread does not keep for long.
As it turned out, they in turn collaborate with many other soup kitchens and food pantries, all of which are glad to receive and make good use of any surplus.
Unlike in the monastic story, nothing came back to me — except a deeper gratitude and a clearer understanding: that interdependence, that mutual connectedness, is not a “chain” that binds or restricts us, but one that protects and multiplies what is good. It is good to take part in the mission of the Apostles, to whom Jesus says: “Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing is wasted.” (Jn 6:12, NJB)
By Br. Henryk Cisowski
Br. Henryk is a Capuchin Franciscan friar from Kraków, Poland. He is a co-founder and long-time director of St. Padre Pio Charities in Kraków, a nonprofit organization accompanying people experiencing poverty and homelessness on their path toward a dignified life. Since 2021, he has been ministering at Capuchin Community Services in Milwaukee, which provides food, shelter, and outreach to those in need. Since 2024 appointed a Ministry Director of this Capuchin Ministry.