BREAD FOR EACH OTHER

Skid Row in Los Angeles has roughly 10,000 homeless, poor, and marginally employed residents. The area, with its numerous street encampments, rescue missions, and single room occupancy hotels, has the dubious nickname of “the homeless capital of the nation.” It is also the most policed area in the country. In the heart of it all is the

Hospitality Kitchen, also known as the “Hippie Kitchen,” one of the many programs run by the Catholic Worker program. The soup kitchen offers hot meals three days per week to thousands of our brothers and sisters in need, and also has a medical and dental clinic on-site with doctors and nurses volunteering their time on a continual rotating basis.

   On the wall that faces 6th Street as you approach the Hospitality Kitchen, there is a large mural, beautifully painted and depicting the homeless community lining up for food. A closer look reveals that one of those people is Jesus himself, simply getting in line with the others. This powerful image serves as a reminder that God is in full solidarity with all of humanity and stands with the poorest among us. For me, this mural is an icon of the appearance stories that we hear each year during the time of Easter after Jesus’ resurrection.

   One of those stories tells of him joining two of his followers as they journeyed along the road to Emmaus. He came quietly into stride, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and joined in the conversation. The disciples, however, did not realize it was him. It was only later when he sat with them at the table in their home, that something familiar happened: he took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to them. It was in that moment that his friends remembered their last meal together in the upper room – the same words, the same blessing, the same undeniable sense of love and solidarity. In community, as companions, Jesus became known to them in the breaking of the bread.

   The Latin root word for “companion” is companis, which means “bread” or “loaf,” or more literally, “to be bread for one another.” We are all called to be companions along the way with each other. We are all called to be bread for each other and to nourish one another. On the sacred journey of life, we will meet many people along the way: people who are struggling, and people who help us when we stumble.

   The Communion Road winds through our city streets, the soup kitchens, jails and prisons; the hospitals and slums. It takes us through the bloodshed of Palestine, the poverty of Haiti, and on the road of exile with our Syrian sisters and brothers. It runs along the hillsides and ocean beaches and onto 6th & Gladys in skid row. All along the way, we are called to be bread for each other. We are called to nourish one another with food and dignity; with strength and hope.

   When we encounter one another on this Communion Road and respond to the needs and of others, we are given the opportunity to engage in real, positive change in the lives of our global community. In the process, we are transformed. Through it all, God is with us, and it is in these communal acts of love and mercy that the Reality of God comes into focus. It is then that, as Christians, we know Jesus in the breaking of the bread – in the giving of ourselves to each other. It is then that the Divine Reality becomes real for all people of every tradition in their own understanding.

   This bread of life – the companis – is baked with love, a love that is big enough for all people everywhere, regardless of spiritual tradition, national origin, life orientation, denominational stripes, or political affiliation. The Road to Emmaus is for all people and will take us to the one truth that we are all in this together. On this road, we will never look into the eyes of anyone that God does not love. On this road, God becomes one

of us. On this road, we become one with God, because we all share the one bread of our collective soul dipped in Divine Love.

Brother Dennis