Sharing Supper With Our Lord

By Jacqueline Colaco –

I was perusing through ancestral photographs to post milestone family occasions on Facebook. Many of these centred round cake cutting ceremonies to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries, with candles burning bright and numbered according to the age of the celebrant or years of married bliss. The cake was invariably placed on the large dining table with family and friends gathered around the honoured member.

Many a time, the celebration would coincide with birthdays or anniversaries of more than one person given that our families were so large during the last century. My mother for example was the eldest of 17 children! A grand daughter and I were her birth date mates and privileged to cut cakes jointly at her birthday parties. I hailed from a family of seven children and boasted over seventy first cousins, with most living in Bangalore. The treat was the pleasure of more than one cake on the table, more than one round of singing appropriate tunes to suit these joyous occasions, accompanied on piano, perhaps with also a violin, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin joining in for good measure in keeping with the high spirits of the guests and depending on the musical talents boasted by the guests.  Traditional pianos are now rare and keyboards and guitars generally rule this century.

Occupying prominent position high up on the wall in the dining hall of a Catholic home, as if sending showers of blessings down from above, will always be a picture of The Last Supper, portraying a significant reproduction of an original painting by Leonardo da Vinci. On another wall would hang pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mother Mary. The family that ‘prays together stays together’ is a wise saying and the Last Supper picture is one towards which we turn and bow our heads when praying the ‘grace’ before and after each meal, thus invoking blessings and thanking the Almighty for his bounty in providing our table with the labour of love from many household hands. This picture depicts Christ’s last supper with his 12 Apostles on the night before he was crucified.

At this meal he instituted the fellowship of the Catholic Church instructing these men who were closest to him to go out into the world, to daily celebrate a reincarnation of His Body and Blood at Holy Mass, then translate it by their practical example of living and preaching his message of ‘Love of God’ and ‘Love of Neighbour’, adding on lessons shared through parables for ‘dos’ and ‘not to dos’ in the three years preceding, while He ministered to his followers.

Recently I was dwelling on the Sermon on the Mount and the parable of the Talents. Both have wonderful sharings about these ‘dos and do nots’ to guide us in our ordinary daily living. They throw challenges at us. How we see opportunities and utilize them to traverse the arena beyond ourselves is entirely in our decision domain, with the caveat however that we will be held to task that if we turn out NPAs or non performing assets (to use current jargon!).

Sometimes even a smile or a soothing touch, perhaps a listening ear is enough to ignite a spark lying dormant within us, to reach out to another who needs comfort. Most people reject advice, especially if they’re elderly and have experienced the ‘ups and downs’ of the everyday grind, but they appreciate companionship and somebody to traverse the path of ‘growing old’ with them. Christ gave this consolation and comfort to the sick, the distressed, the oppressed and aged. He spoke of the widow’s mite and the good Samaritan as examples of people we can emulate. These two were ordinary people like us who ‘broke their bodies and shed their blood’ in their unique outreach as did Simon of Cyrene, Veronica and Joseph of Arimethea, translating the exact message portrayed by the Last Supper picture.

Similarly, The Last Supper picture in our homes has witnessed glad times and sad times, sharing and caring times, with the drawing cum dining hall being used to lay out a departed family member who would have partaken in such occasions. On the demise of parents and the inevitable passing of the home into the hands of developers as is prevalent nowadays, precious pictures like The Last Supper have to find a new abode. The one from my parental home is in the home of mum’s birthday mate grand daughter who will remember the happy holidays and occasions she enjoyed at the ancestral home.

I have a tiny reproduction that reigns above my mini dining table, but my memories are of the picture in the house where I spent forty one of my years and which I left at age fifty after my parents’ demise. Occasions there most importantly live on in my mind and soul; likewise does the significance of the Last Supper as an inspiration to drive me to break my body and spill my blood a wee bit, in experiencing the ‘joy of giving’, alongside the devouring of my own daily bread.

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Jacqueline Colaco at 68 describes herself as an ‘Armchair Minister’, a ‘People’s Person’ and a ‘Winner, not a Whiner’!

A former Bank Executive whose highly active and successful life underwent a sea change when Rheumatoid arthritis struck at age 37, she resigned when 45 and co-founded Arthritis Foundation (I). She passionately advocates for better accessibility infrastructure in India to enable mainstreaming persons with disabilities. Also promotes awareness against female foeticide/infanticide.

Owing to limited mobility and therefore largely housebound, Jacqueline’s interests range from a love of her garden to reading, music and films, TV, writing for the newspapers and other publications, interacting on social networks and visitors.

She has participated assisted by an escort in 10 marathons in her wheelchair, raising funds for disability NGOs. Also involves in a Saturday soup kitchen that feeds about a hundred hungry homeless. Enjoys her monthly outing To Catholic Club for intellectual stimulation at a book club called ‘IBrowse’.

She has retired to a Senior Citizen Home at Bengaluru to fulfill her dream of being part of community caring and sharing.

In 2010 she published her autobiography ‘Just Me, Jacqueline on My Way’ typed with a single finger!