Litany of blessings

All things must come to an end, and it is right that we should take time to recognize the successes achieved and to take stock of the road ahead before moving on to the next adventure in life.

Yesterday afternoon, once all the formal meetings were complete, and the stories had been told, it was time to celebrate. As 'tradition' would have it, Thursday evening is reserved for a celebratory banquet which is accompanied or followed by some kind of local entertainment.

As the day was drawing to a close, new friends and old sat together at table to break bread. In a sense, you might say that we were breaking bread all week long: sharing stories and living the very fraternity of which we were speaking. Somehow, it was fitting then that we should formalize this fraternity around a table, and find some time to enjoy some wonderful live music which was so uplifting as to inspire some to dance and many others to join in the lyrics, much to the joy of the musicians themselves.

This final day was devoted to recognizing the blessings we have experienced, to voicing them, and to looking forward, discerning the next steps that need to be taken on the journey. The fruit of this discussion will come to light in the coming days, weeks and months, but for now, it's enough that we have spoken of our thankfulness for blessings received.

As we sat at the Lord's Table (the group had already begun to shrink due to varying departure times), I couldn't help recognizing the parallel between what we were living and what Jesus and his disciples had lived so many years ago. They too had gathered around a banquet table to share a meal. They too had perhaps not recognized the gift that was being offered as they partook of bread and wine, blessed and broken, which would somehow change their lives.

One wise author once remarked that the Last Supper was the unbloodied sacrifice which prefigured the events of Good Friday, which would be the fulfillment of the greatest gift of love. How fitting that the banquet which fed our bodies should precede the banquet that nourished our souls today.

As we departed from the chapel, and it was transformed once again into the ordinary room that it once was, the sacred action that took place within during this week was transported in visible form back to another location, while it continues also to be carried within each of us who was privileged to be present.

Lessons have been spoken this week. Lessons have perhaps been heard. What is sure is that those who partook in this sacred action, with open hearts and minds, have now departed, somehow changed, hopefully better, certainly more prepared to respond in love to the call of service that awaits us.