Three ingredients for every good meal

Readings for Thanksgiving Day, USA

There are three things that happen at every good meal. First, there is communion in all its aspects, not just eating food but also reconciling with those we don’t get along with or would rather exclude from the table. Through memory and hope, we share communion with those who have come before and those who will come after us.

Second, there is communication. At the meal, we tell the story that brings context to the food we share. We express our dreams and visions of who we are and long to be as individuals and as a community. In verbal and non-verbal ways, what we communicate at every good meal is always love for the other.

Finally, there is a commission. Every good meal changes us but only if we have entered fully into it with those at the table. The meal calls us to live differently and commissions us to deepen the relationships begun or mended at the meal. Most of all, the meal sends us out to share what we have received at that table with others, especially those who have no table to belong to.

May all our meals and tables this day be reflections of the communion, communication, and commission we have been given in Christ.

This post was first published on the planner page for Thanksgiving Day in “GIA Quarterly: A Liturgical Music Journal,” Vol 28, No 3.

Image credit: Nils Stahl, unsplash, CC0.