About 20 years ago, the Poor Handmaids decided to name the four dining halls of the Motherhouse. Leadership designed a contest in which Sisters would suggest four names, with the requirement that they be related by a common theme—all named after flowers or birds, for example. Sister Coletta submitted the winning suggestion: Each dining hall should carry the name of an episode in Jesus’ life that involved dining or hospitality.
Cana Hall is named for the wedding feast where Jesus performs his first miracle, turning water into wine for the celebrants, thus beginning his three year active ministry. About 60 miles north of Jerusalem in Galilee, Cana was about a five mile walk from Nazareth, where Jesus lived before setting out on His Father’s business. Cana celebrates two significant beginnings: an unnamed couple in marriage, and the public life of Jesus that would transform history. John 2:1-11
In Jericho, about a fifteen mile walk northeast from Jerusalem, Jesus encountered Zaccheus, a tax collector, despised by the Jews because the moneys collected were intended for the Roman conquerors. A small man, Zaccheus had climbed a tree to get a better view of Jesus among the crowd. When Jesus saw him in the tree, he asked Zaccheus to take Him to his home for hospitality. Here Jesus welcomes the outsider into His friendship. Luke 19:1-10
Derived from the Latin “cenaculum,” meaning dining hall, Cenacle, or the Upper Room in Jerusalem, hosts the most significant meal in the life of Jesus.This meal is sometimes referred to as the Holy Supper, the Lord’s Supper, The Mystical Supper, and The Last Supper. The Last Supper is aptly named, since the public mission of Jesus is now in its final hours. Here the consecration of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus has become a central ritual of sacred community throughout most of Christendom. Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38
On the day of Resurrection, Cleopas and another unnamed disciple were joined by a stranger walking on the road to Emmaus, about seven miles northwest of Jerusalem. They were joined on their journey by a stranger. On reaching Emmaus, Cleopas encouraged the stranger to rest and dine with them. At the table, the stranger broke bread and the disciples immediately recognized that this was the Christ, Jesus resurrected. Luke 24:13-35
The name of each dining hall in the Motherhouse is a reminder that when we break bread together, we are not just having a meal, we are emulating Jesus in creating community.