Why The Shared Meals Of Eucharist

The shared meals that many share are directly reflective of community and bonds that are shared. Between stories that describe the rich, restrictions on food, and helping the less fortunate, the Gospels discuss the meal of Eucharist in many different ways to symbolize the bond of a community. In doing so, they show anyone could be in the Catholic Church if they believe and support their community. The shared meal between rich versus poor is seen many Gospel stories. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, a rich man never shares his meal with a poor beggar named Lazarus. When both of them reach heaven, the rich man tries to order around Lazarus, but the rich man is reprimanded for his family’s lack of faith and his bad deeds (Luke 16:19-31). This story shows that those who do not share their meals will receive suffering. The story of the great banquet tells of a dinner party a man wanted to have but his guests declined, so the man invited the poor instead. Engaging in a meal shows the community and care that they share with each other and the poor (Luke 14:15-23). The rich who do not share their meal will be punished as seen by the story of Lazarus, but in the banquet story, it is seen that people should invite the poor to their meals.

This is demonstrated in the story about losing worry. Jesus tells a crowd not to worry about a lack of food for it is not important. Instead of having parties with food, it is more important to share what everyone has (Luke 12:22-34). Likewise, in the parable of the lost son, to celebrate the return of the father’s sinning son, the father has a dinner party. They celebrate their community reunion. The father gives food to a person who he could have cast away as a sinner, but instead, he shows his love through their meal (Luke