The Community of Sharing a Meal
"Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people."
Acts 2:46-47a
I often find myself reflecting upon the verse above as a model and reminder of our Church community. The early Church set such a precedent for coming together in prayer and fellowship. And one of the primary ways we see this community flourishing is through sharing a meal together. We are all connected as humans in our need to eat, and when we share our food, we are reminded of our communal reality as the Body of Christ.
This reality is alive in our parish community. Although the past two years have made it challenging to physically sit down and share a meal together, our meal ministry has been a great opportunity to share a meal with those in our community. Below is a message from one family who has received meals after one family member had complications with a surgery. This family is a part of our parish community and has served as a part of meal ministry.
Just wanted to reiterate just how blessed we have been by this ministry. We have come such a long way from the original surgery, and even further from the original botched procedure that made all this happen. I will spare you the long and tedious story, but suffice to say that our now 8 month old is healthy, our 6 year old is growing and becoming, and my wife and I are getting better with each passing day. She isn’t “all better” but she is at least starting to move and bend.
These meals have really taken something “off our plate” and literally put something on them. We are so grateful and we want everyone who has helped us to know that it has really given us some much needed help. We hope that everyone involved gets as blessed by their acts of charity to us as we have felt by them. We appreciate all your prayers and want you to know that we are in for about 5 more months of physical recovery between now and full recovery (supposedly without pain of any kind. I really hope so!). We would appreciate any continued prayers for recovery. Thank you!
When we think about feeding the hungry, we can often jump to a pre-configured image of what hunger looks like. I know that there are people on the other side of the world barely able to find a bowl of rice to make it through the day. However, we are also called to see our neighbor here in our community, to join in fellowship with those who live and breathe right next to us. I like to think on St. Mother Teresa's quote "I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?" How am I getting to know my neighbor?
Meal Ministry can be a great way to share a meal with someone. You can contact the parish office to get involved, or you can volunteer through Family Promise here. You can also invite a neighbor or someone you are less acquainted with to dinner. Community begins with reaching out to those around us.