To Thank and Bless

When families gather for meals, they are nourished with more than the food placed before them. Mealtime is a time to be nourished with the companionship of people as well. Both the food we share and the people with whom we share it are gifts from God. So it is fitting that we pause at mealtime to offer thanks and praise to God. This collection of prayers echoes the Scripture-yet another source of God's sustenance-of the church year. From Advent to Ordinary Time, from the Solemnity of St. Joseph to the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, families will be reminded of the link between the dining room table and the eucharistic table.

Fr. Michael Kwatera, OSB, Ph.D., is Director of Liturgy and Director of Oblates for Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is a teacher and the author of several Liturgical Press books, including Come to the Feast: Liturgical Theology of, by, and for Everybody.