Breaking Bread Together in Lent

Through the season of Lent this year, Heart River Lutheran Church is learning about and honoring the Passover Seder through shared meals at the homes of congregational members on Wednesday evenings. 

The Christian season of Lent and the Jewish Passover share common themes of liberation and covenant important to our understanding of the relationship between us and God. In the Passover, Jewish people celebrate deliverance from slavery and God’s faithfulness in delivering God’s people from bondage to freedom. Similarly, Lent focuses on repentance, freedom from the bondage of sin, and preparing for Resurrection and new life. 

Our congregation has a Lenten tradition of sharing dinner, fellowship, worship, and Holy Communion with each other in our homes. By learning about and sharing the Passover Seder, we respectfully remember Christianity’s Jewish roots. It is our prayerful hope to honor Judaism rather than erase it, to build interfaith understanding, and to learn the origins of our own rituals and our sacramental meal. 

It is truly a gift to remember God’s faithfulness in the covenant God has made with us. It is a gift to share our stories, to be in relationship with others, and to turn back to the beauty of breaking bread with our neighbors.

Photo by Nathan Haight on Unsplash