Family Dinner

Richard A. Sokerka

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, a day when families gather together to share a festive meal and give thanks to God for all their blessings, Pope Francis recently intimated that the true meaning of the holiday meal needs to be replicated over and over at the family dinner table.

For Pope Francis, the dinner table is a key place to strengthen family bonds and foster a sense of togetherness. “Sitting at table for the family dinner, sharing our meal and the experiences of our day, is a fundamental image of togetherness and solidarity,” he said last week during his General Audience, explaining that food isn’t the only thing shared at the table, but also affection and the happy and sad events of the day.”

The Pope said that Catholics have a special vocation to live the virtue of togetherness, and noted how Jesus made a point to eat with his friends, and even presented the Kingdom of God as a joyful banquet.

“It was also in the context of a dinner where he gave the disciples his spiritual testament and instituted the Eucharist,” the Pope said.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, let every family be mindful of the importance of breaking bread together daily so that the family meal, a wonderful symbol of togetherness, will always an integral part of our daily lives and in our society.