“This is the traditional way of breaking the bread–in doing so, we remember our ancestors.” So explained our host, a pastor in the countryside outside of Danang, Vietnam, and the father of one of our new friends, Nha Ho.
I love many things about this shot, but especially the ritual for remembering those who have gone before, juxtaposed with the images in the background of the children–those who will come after.
Today, in the Catholic Church, is the feast day of Corpus Christi, the ‘body of Christ,’ also known as the eucharist. When Jesus practiced what we have now come to call in protestant circles, The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, it was literally a meal, a feast, enjoyed with his disciples, whom he called friends.
It was a feast. Literally. Not a wafer. Not a cube of pre-cut bread. Not even a big chunk of freshly baked bread. A feast.
As we left the pastor’s house that day, I was full. Of delicious home cooked food, of course–but also of the encounter with new friends around a common table, sharing a meal together.
countryside outside of Danang, Vietnam
© 2012 erin dunigan
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