Now we gather for a sacred meal.

The journeys of our lives can be fraught with danger, disappointment, distractions or disillusionment.

As we travel this Lenten road, we remember the other roads travelled in God’s name, other routes traveled in search of life and meaning — the road to Canaan, the road to Nineveh, the Sinai route out of Egypt, the road to Emmaus, the Road to Damascus, the Buddhist Kora, the Hajj to Mecca, the American Great Migration, the Mother Road from dust bowl to deliverance,

and the Via Dolorosa, the road Jesus is said to have taken through the streets of Jerusalem as he dragged his heavy cross beam.

We too travel as we search for meaning, and we hope our Lenten journey will be as enlightening, as life-giving.

To aid us on the journey, we eat, as Jesus told his disciples, who would keep the movement strong.

They gathered in the upper room as he instructed, and shared a meal they didn’t know would be their last.

Sometime in the midst of that meal,

Jesus took a loaf of bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them and said

eat this, this bread is broken as my body is about to be broken.

Then, he took a cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to them.

Drink this, he said, this cup of blessing is for you to be blessed.

Do this and remember.

So we do — for strength, for companionship, for clarity, for remembering, we eat.

Let’s pray: With this meal O God, give us strength for the journey and desire for justice for all whom we meet on the way. Bless this bread and cup, and through them, bless us. Amen.

All are welcome. Come to the table!

Post Communion:

Let us Pray:

God, You have called us and promised to bless us on the way. Be with us on this journey, and, strengthened by this meal, let us find our life in you. amen.