Every fall, in late October, my mom makes her Christmas fruitcakes. She sets aside a day, usually a Sunday, to chop all the fruit, mix in the flour, molasses, cold tea, spices, and eggs and wait for it to bake in a low oven for 2 hours. It’s an almost 24-hour process that actually doesn’t conclude until the next morning, when she brushes dark rum over the cooled cakes and then wraps them up and places them in tins to age until Christmas.
My mom, who is almost 87, took over the job of making fruitcake when the generation before couldn’t do it anymore. As I watch her carry out this tradition every year, it’s bittersweet. There are so many memories attached to fruitcake, and not just memories but also reminders. Some years it’s hard to believe that it’s already time to make fruitcake again. In contemplating another year gone by and the prospect of preparing for another Advent and Christmas, I am reminded to be grateful for time given and for time to prepare for what’s to come.
On Nov. 14, the last Sunday in Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar, before Christ the King and then Advent, Jesus tells us to be watchful for the signs of the end times. In Mark 13:24-32, Our Lord talks about the darkening of the sun and moon, falling stars and says the “powers in the heavens will be shaken.” He says the Son of Man will come in the clouds and will then send out angels to “gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
Jesus goes on to talk about learning a lesson from the fig tree. Just as the fig tree signifies the coming of summer when it produces tender leaves, Jesus says, “when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” We don’t have many fig trees in our part of the world, but I think fruitcake (which actually contains figs) is just as good a reminder of being aware of the signs of the times.
I think sometimes when we hear talk of end times and reading signs there can be a tendency to panic. Just like when I see my mother amassing her fruitcake supplies, I have to quell the sudden urgency to complete my Christmas shopping, we have to realize that Jesus is trying to prepare us not just for the end times, but for the end goal of the life of every Christian. We have to accept that all time is a gift, given to us to prepare for the kingdom of God.
God created the world with many natural reminders of how we are in a constant state of things beginning and things ending. The Church’s liturgical calendar is another way we mark the passage of time. Every year, we go through the Gospel readings on a three-year cycle, hearing the same details about Jesus’s life. The Church gives us numerous feasts and solemnities each year, all reminders of who we are as Christians and what our goal is on this earth.
Jesus knows we can also get fixated on signs. Many of the signs he mentions in the rest of Mark 13 have happened many times throughout the history of the world. The Jerusalem temple crumbled, nation has risen against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there have been more earthquakes and famines than anyone can count. He tells his disciples that they will have to endure suffering and persecution and to expect false prophets and even fake Messiahs. As it turns out, every generation has experienced all these things to some degree. No follower of Christ is exempt from the cost it takes to follow Jesus, but at the same time, every follower of Christ should long for the event that the signs portend – the coming of his kingdom.
Is there a reason my mom make fruitcake every year, apart from the fact that if she didn’t it would seem like end times? After all, it’s tradition, a sign that marks the passage of another year and the need to prepare for the important feast of Christmas.
But also fruitcake is a sign of joy, which is the same reason Jesus tells us to look for the signs of his coming. Ultimately, the recognition of those signs means we will share in his crown of glory.
Lazzuri writes from her home in Nova Scotia, where she lives with her husband, six children, and her mom. She can be reached at clarelazzuri@gmail.com.
