The Story
Plan a meal each week (breakfast, lunch, or dinner--whichever works best for that week) to all sit down together to eat, share the sacred story, wonder, and give thanks for one another. Suggested: place a candle in the middle of the table for this meal. Printable Version of the Prayers, Story, and Questions Found Here - or simply use the website on your phone!
Light the candle.
Bless.
Use this or create your own blessing.
Gracious God, bless this food, the gifts of your creation, and all the hands that played a part in bringing it to this table.
Bless this table, around which we gather, and bless all those we wish were with us today.
Help us to listen to your word and to each other so that we might hear the Good News in this story.
Read.
Readers in the household take turns reading.
March 21-27
Before reading this story for the first time, mix up a teaspoon of yeast with a cup of flour and a half cup of warm water in a large bowl. Take turns stirring the mixture and observing its size. You won’t be able to bake this mixture, but it will allow you to see the story unfold before your eyes in preparation for the lesson.
Matthew 26:17—20, 26—29 ┃ The Last Supper
Let us hear the Good News of God:
The Passover with the Disciples
On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve;
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’
Thanks be to God!
Think.
Use some or all of these questions as you wish. If you have younger children in your household, you might invite them to make up their own question to ask!
Leave plenty of time for all participants to ponder each question. There are no “right” answers. You may wonder about some other questions that you would like to ask as well.
I wonder who helped prepare the bread and set the table for this meal? I wonder why Jesus called the bread his body?
I wonder how the disciples felt when they ate this meal?
I wonder what other foods they ate at this dinner?
I wonder what the disciples thought when Jesus said he would see them in the Father’s kingdom? What do you wonder about this story?
Lots of different foods tell stories. Some tell us about the city or the country we come from. Some remind us of our grandmothers and grandfathers. Our tongues and our noses are really good at remembering the flavors we taste and smell! That’s what makes certain foods so special. Every time we eat a familiar food, it can remind us of the people we have shared it with before.
What foods are special in your family? Discuss what snacks or meals remind you of something important: the city you were born in, the country you are from, the meals your parents made growing up, the recipes your family passed down for generations. Talk about the ways the food connects you to people and places you love, even when you are not together. When do you eat these special foods? What makes them important to you? Who do they remind you of?
We share a very special meal at church. This meal also tells us a story. We might not think of it like a meal, because we don’t usually sit down around the table and it doesn’t usually fill our bellies up completely. Do you know what meal I’m thinking of? What story does this meal tell?
When we share Communion, we remember Jesus and his disciples, and we also remember all of the men and women and children who have celebrated Communion since Jesus first served the meal. When we taste and smell and feel this meal in our mouths, our whole body is reminded that we are part of a very big family!
Even more importantly, Jesus tells us that he is with us every time we share this meal. How wonderful is it that we get to feast with Jesus?
Bless.
Gracious God, we thank you for all we have been given, the blessings of this table, and the blessings of our daily lives.
Thank you for all we have heard, your voice in both scripture and in the words of those we love.
We pray for the courage to speak the Good News in the world around us either by word or action, that we may play our part in the sacred story.