Reflections on Community Life and our Dedication to Jesus Christ
Seder Meal, 25 March 2020
by Fr. Joe Tedesco
The monks of Mepkin celebrated a Seder Meal on March 25, 2020 and the event became a wonderful experience of community. As we reflected on Community from the context of the Seder celebration, we discovered the great value of touching our roots in Judaism and in Christ.
These are truly the foundation of who we are as Christians and as those who live in a Eucharistic community.
As the Eucharist is so integral to our Christian faith and life, so is the Seder to Jewish faith and identity. It was divine intervention and the Exodus that Jewish people were liberated from slavery and come to know God and develop their community of faith. The Exodus brought them to Mt. Horeb and Moses had the life changing experience of the Burning Bush and the Naming of God – I am Who I Am – that was the beginning of the Israelite religion. The Hebrews became a community of faith in the one God.
Of course, this is the same for us as we can reflect on Jesus and his passion, the Passover event that gave us the Eucharist and the experience of the Cross and the Resurrection. We are rooted in Jesus’ death and resurrection as the beginning of our faith. Jesus’ meal with his disciples gave us the Eucharist and we, from that day to this, celebrate who we are in the Body and Blood of Jesus.
All this was celebrated for us in this Seder. How blessed we are to be able to experience the Seder meal and to reflect on our blessings of faith and community. The blessing of the Eucharist that we can celebrate every day. May we be in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters as they prepare to celebrate the Seder this year. We do belong to them as we worship the God of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob who is the God the Father of Jesus.
Our reality as a Eucharistic People, Catholic Christians, shapes our whole life. We live daily the cross, following Jesus to the dying of self to rise to new life. We are in this Lenten journey now to touch even more deeply this truth and to live the truth of Christ in our lives.
As Trappist monks we are in solidarity with all of our monks and nuns of our Order as we all make ready to enter into holy week and have these days energize us.
All people, especially in these times of the Coronavirus, must touch the solidarity we share with everyone on earth and lift up our hearts and minds to connect with all in this challenge. The oneness we share in God is a blessing for us all and a deep sense of unity that the world needs right now. We are the community of people God has placed on the earth today. Let this truth strengthen us to live as one.