Yesterday I preached on one of my favorite passages of Scripture, the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24. I used this passage for my first major public act of ministry, giving the closing talk at a student retreat at Seattle University. At the time I thought I was on my way to becoming a Jesuit, so ‘preaching’ at a student retreat was a big deal. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and look back fondly at my first ‘sermon’.

In the Luke story, I love that the two travelers, unaware, invited Jesus to join them for a meal. This morning I find myself still wondering about the emphasis of the church being wrong with regard to the Lord’s Supper. Throughout the Christian tradition, a lot of energy has been placed upon ‘the bread’ and what becomes of it. Is it ‘the Body of Christ’ – literally, spiritually, figuratively, all of thee above? I’m still sitting with and wondering about what might have been in the church if the emphasis had been on the meal or the rather than the bread. I wonder what church would be like if we focused on the compassionate act of welcoming and feeding the hungry rather than what happens to the bread.