In the resurrection story of the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24) two of Jesus’ followers are walking on the road to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, talking and worrying about all that had just happened. The resurrected Jesus joins them and asks them what the hubbub is all about. And they don’t recognize him. “Have you been living in a cave?” they ask him. “You haven’t heard about the teacher Jesus and how he was killed and now — and NOW — they say his body is gone.” Jesus reminds them of their teacher’s promise that he would rise again. And still they don’t recognize him.
It’s not until later, when he stops with them to share a meal, that their eyes are opened and they recognize him. When he breaks the bread, when he shares the table. Then they say, “I thought something odd was going on…were not our hearts burning within us as he walked and talked to us on the road?” This is the blessing of the table. Whether the table is the altar we gather around to celebrate the Eucharist with fellow believers or the dining table around which we gather to eat, drink and laugh with family and friends, the act of gathering around a common table can be a sacred, life-giving experience, a time of recollection and remembrance of all the graces in our lives. It is a time to enjoy the bounty of the earth, all the while recalling the numerous ways that God has insinuated himself into our lives without our even noticing.
Ask yourself in silence: When was the last time you felt your heart burning within you because you recognized the presence of God or Jesus in your life? How could your time with family and friends around the table be transformed into something more sacred?
Steve, One of my favorite Scriptural passages. I thank God before every meal (and at other times during the day, too).
One of my favorite passages too, Steve. And what a joy having family and friends gathered around our dining room table! It seems, at a meal, at that sharing of the good things God has given us, it is so easy to be one with each other, focused and in tuned with that other person or persons, and that the sharing continues into the sharing of selves. So many revelations and problems solved around a table! Something to really think about in terms of our Eucharistic table. God bless, as always.
Kathleen