The ingredients of our lives make us who we are

A recipe follows a certain formula that includes ingredients, measurements, time, techniques, environmental factors, and sometimes things we cannot control. That basic structure or formula unites all recipes and distinguishes them from other sets of instructions.

If each of us were a dish, we would all have our own recipe — our own ingredients, talents, years, environmental factors, and life experiences that make up who we are. Like recipes in a cookbook, as members of the human family, we are united in the image and likeness of God, which stands as the formula for the recipes of each of our lives.

I present this imagery to speak not only of those “ingredients” given to us by God that make us who we are, but also to address the impact that our decisions in life, our “techniques,” have on who we are. Any accomplished chef knows that one’s cooking technique can make or break even the best ingredients when preparing a dish. So too our decisions in life and how we use our gifts are the ultimate determinants of a life well lived.

In society, often our success is measured by our career and business accomplishments. This is seen as our final dish after adding years of time, hard work, education, and talents. But our financial success and the way we do business are not so much accomplishments as merely steps in the recipe of who we are.

Throughout our careers, we make many decisions, weighing them against who we are, what we believe, and how they affect our goals. Perhaps sometimes we make compromises that go against who we are as followers of Christ. We may justify the means with the ends in order to gain quicker financial successes. We must always be mindful, however, that each decision we make has more of an impact on who we are than on our career or business dealings. With Christ, all things are possible; if we truly believe this, then we also must have the confidence to believe that making choices, even in business, according to our Christian values and teachings will always result in greater success than anything that may seem financially more rewarding in the present moment.

We must also be mindful that our relations in business, industry, and the workplace can be the ultimate “courtyard of the Gentiles.” Through our Christian witness in the way we conduct ourselves, we can open the eyes of those who are not yet evangelized to the Lord. It is the “technique” we use in life that will let others know that we are followers of Christ. It is also our technique that can invite others to follow the Lord by our example. No one asks for the recipe of a dish that looks rotten or smells sour, but everyone wants to know the recipe for the dish that results in the fragrance and splendor of Jesus reflected in your life.

In the end, whether it is the way we conduct ourselves in business or in life in general, we ultimately are responsible for the final dish that is our life, which one day we will present to God when it is complete. May we always be mindful of the techniques we use, confident that if they reflect Christ, then the dish we have prepared will be pleasing to the Lord. 

MONSIGNOR JAMIE GIGANTIELLO is the vicar for development of the Diocese of Brooklyn, NY, host of the NET-TV cooking show Breaking Bread, and pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – Annunciation Parish in Brooklyn.