AUDIO MEDITATION:

Jacopo Tintoretto (Italian, 1518-1594), Last Supper, detail. Public domain.

FULL TEXT:

On Sunday, after we process with Jesus holding palms and singing praises, we will hear the reading of his passion, which unfolds over the course of the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread, or Passover.

On the night he was arrested, Jesus gathered with his disciples for a last meal. He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

In this painting of the Last Supper, we see Jesus feeding his disciples. Notice the intimacy with which he shares the bread. He tells us this is his very body, and the disciples lean in to eat directly from his hand—it is a touching image of communion.

Other disciples in the image, having received Jesus’ living bread, turn around and offer it to the poor gathered around the table—an orphan and a person with a disability.

The Eucharist commits us to the poor. In order to receive the body and blood Jesus gives us, we must recognize him in those for whom he showed a special preference—the marginalized, the suffering, the sick. Around the table of the Lord, we are fed and learn to feed others with our love.

In our communities, who is hungry for our love? How might we extend the Eucharistic table to them today?