sacramental invitation

How could we be changed if we were to treat every meal as a sacramental invitation to rest and gratitude?

Ruth 2: 14a

At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

Bread and wine have been staples to the faith experience long before Jesus shared a meal with his disciples and told them to eat, drink and remember him. This invitation from Boaz to Ruth is an invitation to communion- to sit at table and to rest. To have her burdens relieved and to be nurtured and nourished. 

Walter Bruggeman says that the offering of Bread is like offering sabbath rest - it is a gift offered with no occasion or qualification, it is a gift that offers an alternative to our weary, heavy-laden, existence. It is a gift to which the only response can be gratitude. Bruggeman says “imagine a sacrament named ‘thanks!’” and invites us to receive it gladly.

How could we be changed if we were to treat every meal as a sacramental invitation to rest and gratitude?

–  Pepa Paniagua