It is fitting that we inaugurate the holiday season at family tables.  Ancient Judaism, like many religions and cultures, valued the household meal as the center of vitality and faith.  There, table fellowship implied fellowship with God.  There, we are not only nourished physically but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through conversation: reflection on blessings, chat about happenings, and plans for what lies ahead.  There, the host, or master of the house would offer a blessing upon unbroken bread before all at the table broke off a piece to partake of the blessed food.  Hispanics refer to those at the table as “companeros.”  At the center of that big word is the small word for bread, pan, suggesting that a companion is one with whom we break bread, one who is nourished with us.  It starts with family and extends to others.

In the Gospels, Jesus is often at a table sharing a meal with those He considers to be part of the family of faith and giving thanks for daily bread.  His companeros are an eclectic group including tax collectors, prostitutes, outcasts, Pharisees, and Canaanites.  He goes out of His way to accompany those viewed as sinners by church leaders as well as those who consider themselves to be pious and holy yet often use their religious status as a weapon against others.  At His last supper Jesus stressed table fellowship and elevated the meal as central to perpetual ritual that solidifies us as God’s children.  He called Himself “the Bread of Life” and we call the meal “Eucharist,” Greek for thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving feast mirrors our Sunday Eucharist.  There are basically four parts: two that are major (the Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist) framed by two that are minor (welcome rituals and sending rituals).  First, congregants or guests are welcomed by the hosts and those arriving before them.  The greeting moves from a gathering space to a living room where we talk and listen and hear specific words about ancestors or other honored people.  While in church we read about the faith of our forebears and listen to letters that inspire communities, in addition to the words of Christ, on Thanksgiving Day we share news, offer praise, and show messages (cards, notes, photos) that express how we are tied together and commissioned for a collective purpose.  We have music, sometimes live if there is a pianist or guitarist in the clan; many families sing carols or songs special to them.  From the Liturgy of the Word (in church vernacular) to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we move from the living room (pulpit) to the dining room (altar) where the table becomes the centerpiece of our assembly, complete with lace tablecloth, silver candle holders, and decorative wine chalice.  After the Word gets spoken, the Word gets broken at Eucharist; we break bread together at the magnificent banquet.  Usually, it is there that prayers of gratitude are shared, sometimes honoring forebears who originally came to this land and indigenous ancestors who shared the first Thanksgiving feast with them.  The host often also gives thanks on behalf of all for the ways in which family and friends nourish us.  When all are fed and as we digest the value of the day, there is more camaraderie before we are sent forth into the world once again.

And as we are sent forth from the family event into the holiday season, we are sent forth by our family of faith into Advent to anticipate a deeper understanding of God’s Incarnation.  Father Ron Rolheiser once suggested that it starts with every home and family.  He said, “God takes on flesh so that every home becomes a church, and every child becomes a Christ-child, and all food and drink become sacrament.  God’s many faces are everywhere, in flesh, tempered, and turned down so that our human eye can recognize Him.”  We are called to recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread, and in one another, at the table of fellowship where we gather as His children.