Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of preparing many home-cooked meals for family, friends, and even strangers who end up in my kitchen. Sometimes I’m able to produce dishes I’m proud to present; at other times, it’s a dinner put out with mumbled apologies for the burnt entree or a soggy side dish. But no matter the outcome, my ability to feed others, to bring them around a table for warm conversation and rest after a day’s work is a gift for which I thank God every day.

Whenever I’m tempted to focus on the time and effort required to plan a menu, buy the necessary ingredients, cook over a hot stove or oven, and clean up afterwards, I remind myself that these are more than outweighed by the resulting full stomachs and happy people.

So often, the sacrifices that are asked of us—whether they be in discerning a vocation, daily care for loved ones, or acceptance of a hardship that comes our way—flower into graces that we could never have confected for ourselves. God only needs our free “yes,” no matter how lacking in self-confidence it may be. And isn’t that typical of God’s largesse? We offer God five dry, little loaves and two stinky fish, and God returns them as a miraculous feast.

In Isak Dinesen’s short story (and excellent 1987 film) “Babette’s Feast,” we hear: “Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude.” As we set out to give of ourselves in the day ahead in significant ways and in small, may we also be on the lookout for the countless graces awaiting our response and remember that God will not be outdone in generosity, most notably in God’s gift of the Holy Eucharist which we celebrate in a special way today, the Feast of Corpus Christi.