The Case of the Ecumenical Cabbages

My wife and I and the visiting in-laws went out to dinner about 6 on Friday evening. We came back to discover a strange delivery to the church.

By the front door, there were two flats of baby cabbage plants. At first when I had driven by, I was afraid the palms for Palm Sunday had been delivered too early, so I ran over to check.

Nope...cabbages. 48 of them to be exact.

I called around to various parishioners trying to ascertain why cabbages would have been delivered to the church. No one had any idea. Its still at least a month and half away from planting season.

One parishioner called me back later in the evening and said when he was out walking around the neighborhood, he noticed the Presbyterian church had also been gifted with 2 flats of cabbages. So, whoever the mystery cabbage giver was, he or she was at least ecumenical in the cabbage giving goodness.

No one ever fessed up to it. On Sunday morning after I had announced at Mass that there would be free ecumenical cabbages for the taking during coffee hour, a 3rd grader told me her class had been growing cabbages at the elementary school as a science project. I did not check, but I assume some well meaning teacher was out trying to get rid of the science projects and hit up the churches downtown.

Most of the cabbages found good Christian homes, but it is still so far from planting season yet that they may not make it. Hopefully I won't have to do any last minute Funerals for said Ecumenical Cabbages. That liturgy would just be a mess...

Welcome to small town South Dakota, eh!

Comments

Jane Ellen+ said…
I have four flats of cabbages here-- one for each of my churches. Right now they're all over my kitchen table.

They are part of a giveaway that this company does every year, as a "give back to the community" program. Each of their drivers is required to donate some number of flats to local churches and schools. They even have a contest for the school kids, giving out scholarships for the largest cabbage grown in each state. You can learn more about that part here

I have no idea how many of ours will last to be put in the ground, either. We had another blizzard yesterday, with more snow expected this week. But we'll parcel them out, as you've done, and hope!
3/30/2009 12:14 PM
Monk-in-Training said…
Surely during the Liturgy, there would be invocations of St. John Cruciferous, and Our Lady of the Broccoli
3/30/2009 12:14 PM
Heidi Haverkamp said…
This is a hoot!
3/30/2009 2:51 PM
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