Week Three: Setting the Table for Betrayers

Theme

What do we do with failure?

Scripture

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them…”  - Luke 22:19 -

Culinary Symbolism for the Meal Ahead

Breaking bread together represents trust, yet we also recognize the ways we’ve broken each other. Unleavened bread, like in the Passover meal, reminds us of the hurried, weighty moment before Jesus' arrest.

First Reading Reflection

Jesus gave thanks.
He gave thanks to all of the people at that table.

To everything they stood for.
To who came before them. And to who would eventually come to follow after. 

To all of us, that made our choices.
That made him have to break the bread, anyway.

But let us enjoy the blessing of his bounty.
This bread and body, broken and given to regardless of me and you.

There’s something about broken bread that feels holy.
Maybe it’s because breaking is something we all understand.

We know what it is to be fractured—to break trust, to break promises, to feel the sharp crack of disillusionment within a community we thought was whole.

And yet, at the very moment of betrayal, Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, and gives it. To Judas. To Peter.
To the ones who will scatter. He doesn’t hold back the meal, though he knows what’s coming.

What does it mean to share bread with those who have broken us?
What does it mean to receive bread when we know we’re the ones who have broken others?

This week, we sit with the bread in our hands and remember that Jesus didn’t just offer wholeness;
he entered into the breaking with us.

Table Practice

Prepare fresh bread for this meal—something you can tear apart together.

Before eating, pass the bread around the table. Break it slowly. Let each person tear a piece.

Hold silence as you do.

Then ask:

Where has trust been broken among us?

How might breaking bread together begin the slow work of healing?

And then eat, knowing that broken bread is still bread enough to feed us all.

Writing Prompt for the Week

What table are you being called to set in this season?

Who do you need to make room for?

Post Week Reflection

We look forward to hearing about your reflections on these experiences each week.

Journal daily and share a piece of your journey with us that you feel comfortable sharing.

Feel free to email your responses to us at [email protected]

You  help make our voice.

Together WE collectively make up The Welcome Table.

Your voice IS important.

Please use proper discretion and appropriate conduct when discussing in open forums.

Week Three: Unleavened Flatbread with Spiced Lentil Dip

Unleavened Flatbread with Spiced Lentil Dip

Ingredients (Flatbreads):

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• ½ tsp salt

• ¾ cup warm water

• 2 tbsp olive oil

Ingredients (Spiced Lentil Dip):

• 1 cup red lentils

• 2 ½ cups water or broth

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp cumin

• ½ tsp smoked paprika

• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions:
 

1. Make the Flatbreads: Mix flour and salt, then add water and olive oil. Knead into a dough, divide into small balls, and roll out into thin rounds. Cook on a hot skillet for 1-2 minutes per side until golden.

2. Make the Dip: Simmer lentils in water until soft (about 15 minutes). Mash or blend, then stir in olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.

3. Serve the bread warm with lentil dip.