Friars Corner: Jesus offers us ‘our daily bread’

Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR

Exodus 24:3-8; Ps 116:12-13, 15-18; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

In the last several months we have celebrated most of the major events in the life of Jesus and what we believe about his new kingdom, our Christian life. We remembered Jesus’ death, his resurrection from the dead and his Ascension and Pentecost, the sending of the Holy Spirit. The ancient Christian Churches, East and West, are the first Pentecostals since we go back to the first Pentecost. It is the birthday of Christ’s church.

Last week we were asked to think about God, as Holy Trinity, three persons in One God. This Sunday the church presents to us, I believe with the greatest daily miracle, Christ’s ongoing presence for us in the Eucharist. He changed a certain kind of bread and wine into his Body and Blood. That is a major thing Jesus did at the Last Supper before he died. He made himself present in a new way, offering us “daily bread,” as he taught us to pray in the Our Father.

This is one of the most important beliefs of Catholics. At the Ascension, Jesus took his earthly body to heaven. We celebrate Christ’s daily presence at some moment, every day at Mass, all around the world. This is a daily on-going miracle, the multiplication of bread and wine.

Understanding the consecration

If we take the words of consecration and separate them from the instructions before and after, we have an amazing and shocking short sentence. Is Jesus himself standing at the altar disguised in the priest, and saying the words of consecration: “This is my Body,” “This is the cup of my Blood,” etc? Holy Spirit, please turn on the lights in our mind to more fully understand this mystery. We do have to confess our serious sins, mortal sins, before we go to receive Jesus worthily.

Do most Catholics who still go to Sunday Mass understand and believe in this miracle? From my celebrating Mass for almost fifty years, I don’t think so. Some people do. Many just go through a memorized ritual, take communion and leave quickly without realizing what an awesome gift they have in receiving Jesus into their bodies and getting more divine power.

‘Breaking of the Bread’ scriptures

There are many scripture passages about this miracle and many books written. The shortest and clearest Biblical text for understanding Jesus in the “breaking of the Bread,” is St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks (to his Father), broke it and said, ‘This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes,” again.

Our Jewish ancestors celebrated their freedom from Egyptian bondage by the Passover Meal God commanded them to celebrate the night before they left Egypt. They had been doing that for about 1300 years before God’s Son came to earth to save us from our sins and put us on his right track. The Last Supper was an anticipatory meal. Jesus became the Paschal Lamb sacrificing his own life on the cross to take away our sins. Three gospels briefly explain Jesus changing bread and wine into his own Body and Blood at the Last Supper: St. Mark in 14:12-25; St. Matthew in 26:17-29 and in St. Luke 22:7-20.

 The Jesus quotes in St. John

St. John does not give a direct description of the Last Supper. His was the last gospel written and he knew about the others. John expanded his description in Chapter 6, after the multiplication of the loves and fish to feed a great multitude and they had leftovers. St. John quotes Jesus as saying:

32: “I solemnly assure you, it was not Moses who gave you bread from the heavens; it was My Father who gives you the real heavenly bread.

33: God’s bread comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34: The people asked, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35: Jesus explained to them: “I myself am the Bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry. No one who believes in me shall ever thirst.” (See also Isaiah 55:11f.)

41: At this the Jews started to murmur in protest because he claimed, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven.”

48: “I am the Bread of Life.”

51: “I myself am the Living Bread, come down from heaven. If anyone eats this Bread, they shall live forever: the Bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

55: “For my flesh is real food, and my blood real drink. The man (person) who feeds on my flesh, and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

At the end of his discourse, Jesus did not tell them how he would do that for them. We know now how Jesus offers us his “daily bread.”

Enlightened by the Holy Spirit

From the earliest days, the Holy Spirit enlightened the community. Acts 2:42 tells us, the communities: “…devoted themselves to 1) the apostles” instruction, and 2) the communal life, to 3) the Breaking of Bread, and 4) the prayers.” As the church Jesus directly founded, various groups of the faithful have kept this alive for almost 2,000 years in Apostolic succession.

In conclusion, I know many of you cannot go to daily Eucharist (Mass) due to work and family responsibilities. When I served at St. Mark’s in Plano, TX, I doubled the attendance at the earliest Mass for those off to work in various hospitals. If many older and retired Catholics understood these Biblical teaching, they would come to the greatest meal on earth. We come to hold Jesus in our hands and he fills us up with our daily divine meal and many Godly blessings. Then Jesus sends us out of the church with this divine power to be his heart and hands helping him make the world around us a better place to live.

May our precious Jesus draw you and yours more deeply into the depth of his love for you.

Blessings,

• Fr. Bob Hilz
  (© 2018 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR)