Some of the most important Gospel stories centre on sharing meals and breaking bread together. Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB looks at the importance of 'table fellowship' in our lives today. Photo: A seder meal at the Triduum Retreat, Savio House

But the Son of Man goes around eating and drinking, and you say, "That man eats and drinks too much! He is even a friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet Wisdom is shown to be right by what it does. (Matt 11:19)

Jesus was constantly being criticised and condemned by his religious leaders for spending time with 'tax collectors and prostitutes'—the common term for the worst possible sinners. Yet spending time with them was something that Jesus saw as ESSENTIAL because it lay at the heart of his ministry and outreach. For Jesus it was not just a simple chat outside the shop or over a coffee after Sabbath prayer; for Jesus it was a real CONVERSATION. It meant that he had to ENGAGE with those he was talking with; what better place to do this than at the table over good food and wine? However, the religious leaders saw that this as totally unacceptable: to eat with the sinner, Jesus would have to ENTER the home of the sinner and be part of the family. In our more reserved culture, we often do not want to open up to strangers, but the Palestinian culture is far more relaxed. They would subscribe to Irish proverb that 'a stranger is the friend you have not met yet!'

I was once Chaplain to a Holy Land pilgrimage: on the second day the driver told us that it was the birthday of our wonderfully informative and helpful guide; we had a collection to show our appreciation. He was totally overwhelmed by this simple act and invited us all to his home for his birthday party where we met his family and friends—the evening, totally unplanned, was one of our highlights as we shared the 'Fifth Gospel'. It made me think of Jesus in his desire to reach out to others in THEIR comfort zone. The Pharisees claimed to adhere to the law of Moses as well as the tradition of the elders, and by creating their own set of rules, they established themselves as righteous and all who didn't comply were labelled sinners. Jesus exposed the lie that the religious leaders were righteous and warned them of their true state:

don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. (Matt 23: 3-5)

As we reflect on Jesus' quest for table fellowship, we can think about our own experience of eating with family and friends, socially distanced of course, during these difficult times. From my own experience of lockdown and the slow return to a sense of normality, I've rediscovered the beauty of spending quality time over the table. In pre-Covid times, there was always something that needed to be done in the parish community and the danger was that I would use the dining room as a quick pit-stop before I got on with the 'real work'—for that I must apologise to my understanding community. This time of isolation and lockdown has taught me that it is good to waste time with each other and relax with no agenda. It also gave me to time to indulge in a favourite hobby of mine; I went back to the kitchen and discovered the joy of cooking for others. If we eat three basic meals a day, then we get through an astounding 1,095 meals a year.

In the intimacy of a meal, Jesus can preach his Gospel of inclusion: as they literally break bread together and share, buffet-style, Jesus offers us a sign of things to come: an invitation to the great banquet in the reign of God. Thus it is fitting that his last, full community experience with all his disciples was the Last Supper—we do well to remember that most of his friends were asleep in the Garden prior to his arrest. According to the Gospel of John, this meal began with the ultimate act of service in the washing of the feet. The Synoptics go on to tell us how Jesus took bread, broke it and shared it with those close friends, reminding them that this was indeed his body, broken for ALL. The cup of blessing was the wine of joy and happiness, the blood shed and drained because of that unconditional love that God has for the world. The Eucharist was the ultimate meal of sharing: sharing Word, sharing the life of Jesus and sharing the company of each other. This is summed up beautifully by NT Wright when he reflects:

When Jesus himself wanted to explain to his disciples what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn't give them a theory, he gave them a meal.

NT Wright, Evil and the Justice of God, 2010

The experience of really sharing a meal together means that we move away from sitting around the TV with plates balanced carefully on our laps and sit around the table. True sharing means we switch off our social media, especially since that table top has been our school, workplace and sanctuary of worship in these days. We have no agenda apart from getting to know each other that bit better and enjoying fully what each member brings to the table-no matter how old you are or what level of education you have attained. Around that table we are EQUALS in the sight of God. Meals were shared. Stories were told. Sins were confessed. We laughed together and cried together. Together we remembered where we'd been, and we dreamed of where we might one day go. We prayed at that table. And there we experienced God's nearness, God's kindness, and God's love. Please enjoy that family table time and remember those who have to shield, those who are alone, those confused and hurt; those who do not have the support and immediate care of a family. In the midst of a world that increasingly seems to have lost its way with regard to matters of both food and the soul, Christian spirituality has something important to say about the way that sharing tables nourishes us both physically and spiritually. We need a recovery of the spiritual significance of

• what we eat
• where we eat
• and with whom we eat

Those family meal times are, in my opinion, what the poet John O'Donohue calls the 'Eucharist of the ordinary.' They are just a part of those ordinary and sacred times that we experience daily in school, home, work, the pub, the supermarket and the playground: God blesses each of us all the time. We cannot make God in our image and confine the SACRED to our Churches or prayer groups; God is not so limited! At Cana, on the shore of Galilee and at places of miraculous feeding the crowds, Jesus always gives more than enough-God is not limited!

In the beautiful Emmaus Road encounter the grieving disciples could not recognise who the 'stranger' was-even after their peripatetic scripture lesson. Notice it is the two disciples who take the initiative and welcome the Risen Lord to their table of welcome. In reaching out to this 'stranger' they found God as he broke the Bread of Life and shared the Cup of Blessing. Salvation came to them in a the context of a meal. Perhaps before we invite people to Jesus or invite them to church, we should invite them to dinner. If table fellowship is a spiritual discipline that is vital for shaping and sustaining our life with God for the world, we need to make a point to share our tables with people who are in our lives but far from God. This was one of the most distinctive aspects of Jesus's ministry. It is my prayer that we too can meet Jesus today in the ordinary-even the ordinary fish and chips you might share in your house today: even in pandemic, we DO live in a holy place:

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

John O'Donohue, The Inner History of a Day