No occasion offers greater opportunity or a more imposing challenge for communicating the Gospel than Holy Communion. The sacrament itself takes one to the very heart of the Christian faith. What a pastor says to congregants who come to share the Eucharist ought to focus on the central realities of Christian truth. And it needs to be said succinctly!

Scripture records numerous conversations Jesus held around the dinner table: with Matthew and Zacchaeus; in Simon the Pharisee's home; and meals shared with his special friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Also well-known are his feeding of the...