So I have embarked on a practice that I had enjoyed in the past, but was negatively impacted by the pandemic, but one I am finally re-instituting: Having lunch with people. In the years I have worked at Maryknoll, I have enjoyed in particular taking visiting missioners out for lunch over the years and also with coworkers. A perfect lunch for me is with one other person or a couple. Large company lunches can be fun, but not rewarding in the way a one-on-one lunch is. The latter lunch always holds the possibility of a curtain pulled aside: learning something interesting about someone you otherwise would never have known. At our office prayer group, we recently spent a session discussing the passage in Luke about the resurrected Jesus encountering two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. They don't recognize him at first.
As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark." So he went in to stay with them. He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, "Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" --Luke 14:28-32
This passage resonated with me instantly. The fact that the two men's eyes are opened at the breaking of the bread only further demonstrates that meals together are an effective method of discovering the spirit within us. Then they have joy in remembering the conversation they had with Jesus on the road. If we are open to seeing it, we can find Jesus in each other simply by breaking bread together. As a contemplative, I believe that Jesus resides in all of us, and we can see him if we dare to look close enough. So the more people I have lunch with the more I see Jesus.
So while I started having regular lunches with people again merely because I enjoyed them, I suddenly realized that these lunches could potentially be another sort of ministry, albeit a selfish one. I began considering who would I like to have lunch with that I haven't ever before or in a long time. I took my priest of many years out to lunch, after having wanted to, but never quite putting it together. I had lunch with a person who worked at Maryknoll for many years, but not directly with me. I had lunch with one of the professors I felt close to when I got my masters at Pace University. I had lunch with a former coworker who I hadn't seen in months. Every lunch has been enjoyable and rewarding. And my meal partners seem to be enjoying them as well. One said that she would be willing to have lunch with me every month, and I just might take her up on it.
Some people even asked me to have lunch with them. One friend just happened to be in town and gave me a call. So perhaps God approves and is working to expand my ministry, if I can call it that.
I use to have lunch with my dear friend Joe about once a week in the years we worked together. He had a tremendous impact on me, spiritually and otherwise, and each lunch gave me another piece of him and a chance to share another piece of me with him. Now that he's passed, one of my favorite memories of him are the lunches we had together. Also my former priest Father Larry. We had many lunches and dinners together, sometimes with my Mary along, and the conversations we had were always far-reaching, intriguing and joyful. These continued after his retirement and only ended after his passing.
I am retiring in a year, and I plan on putting together as many lunches together as I can. Let me know if you are in the area and would like to have lunch with me. I would love to have lunch with you!
