Who Will Be at the Table?

Dear Friend,

75 years ago in downtown San Francisco, Father Alfred Boeddeker opened the doors of Saint Anthony Dining Room. For years, his brother friars had been serving sandwiches to the folks who showed up at the door of St. Boniface friary asking for help. Father Alfred came up with the idea of setting up a place where people who needed such assistance (and often it was more than food) could sit down at a table and share a meal with more dignity.  

For several years I had the privilege of serving as a chaplain at St. Anthony’s and 

memories of that bustling dining room came to my mind as I reflected on Luke’s Gospel for this weekend. Who will be at the table in the Kingdom of God? A few? Many? Jesus presents a familiar vision of table fellowship as an image of God’s Kingdom. Like Isaiah in the first reading, Jesus startles his listeners with the idea that outsiders are invited in. Leaders accustomed to being “on the inside” are surprised at showing up, but not being allowed in.      

Many parishioners volunteer at the Virgil Cordano Center here in Santa Barbara. The Daughters of Charity and the friars created this project envisioning a daytime space of hospitality and welcome for folks usually considered outsiders. The work of healing, fellowship, and building community is central – and a typical day is often marked with surprise encounters, both in the guests who arrive and in the donations received. Here, too, the Gospel seems to come to life.  

Father Alfred and others like him help make the Kingdom of God more present. As we await the fullness of God’s kingdom at the end of time, how do you and I help make its present reality more obvious and tangible here and now?

Gratefully,

Father Dan ofm