What I’ve realized most from my bread-baking adventures is that we as Catholics are so fortunate and blessed to partake in eating of the living bread every time we go to Mass. The Eucharist is unleavened bread that, in each and every Mass, becomes Jesus’ body. How loved we are by our Father to have access to him in living form in the Mass! It was only through a pandemic year away from the Eucharist that I realized how essential receiving the body and blood is to my faith and spiritual well-being. The fact that every Catholic Church around the world holds the consecrated living bread within its tabernacle is an astonishing and incredible witness to our interconnected faith. Our church is universal; it knows no boundaries. It’s no surprise that Jesus chose bread, then, for this miracle of transubstantiation. Jesus knew — just like I now know — that bread unites. Bread is what brings everybody together to the same table. And his living bread is the best and most fulfilling bread of all, infinitely better than anything I can ever bake, for the bread of Jesus prepares us for eternal life in him.
--Veronica Szczygiel
Image source: Tabernacle, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Mill Valley, https://www.facebook.com/mountcarmelmv
No comments:
Post a Comment