BREAKING AND EATING OF BREAD OF HEAVEN


MONDAY, TWENTY FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

2 Thess 1:1-5,11-12; Ps 96:1-5; Mt 23:13-22

The Christian Life and Outlook

St. Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians introduces us to the communion, which the Christian life stands for. From the opening of the letter, the relationship of Christians with the Trinity is already made evident. The Church is said to be in God the Father and Jesus Christ. It is also from the Father and Jesus Christ that grace and peace flow to the Christians. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned because He is present with them and makes communion possible. The Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son, the marriage bond between a Christian and Jesus Christ. By making the Christians one with Jesus Christ, he also makes them sons in the Son; hence, they are filiated to the Father. Planted as such in the life of the Trinity, a Christian grows in the mystery of Jesus Christ by devouring the word of God, which gives the knowledge of the Father. St. Paul praises God for this growth since he is the one who feeds us with the bread from heaven. “We feel we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers; quite rightly, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love that you have for one another never stops increasing.” This growth resulted from their eating the right food, Jesus Christ, sacramentally given in the Eucharistic celebration and meal.

The celebration set the early Church apart as a distinct entity different from Judaism. In Jerusalem, the early Christians would go to the Temple for the usual prayers and religious practices but later assemble at a private home to break the bread. Thus, the Church grew and became distinct from Judaism by the consistency of early Christians in breaking bread as commanded by our Lord. The breaking of bread was the sacramental participation and communion in the mystery of Jesus Christ. The reality of their communion and participation in the mystery is the Father's daily gift to them. St. Paul praised them for their steadfastness in eating the bread of God’s will. “Among the churches of God, we take special pride in you for your constancy and faith under all the persecutions and troubles you have to bear. It also shows that God’s judgment is just, and the purpose of it is that you may be found worthy of the kingdom of God; it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now.”

According to St. Paul, the judgment of God, which is another way of saying the will of the Father, is just and gives us our daily bread, the eating of which makes us grow in the mystery of Jesus Christ; we grow in faith and our love for God and neighbour. This breaking and eating of heavenly bread characterises the Church as the Bride of Jesus Christ. To be without this bridal mindset is to fall under the woes our Lord proclaimed over the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel. Indeed, to lack the bridal mindset is to have a worldly mindset like the scribes and Pharisees. “Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, ‘If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound.” Fools and blind! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?” A bride of Jesus Christ is herself the altar consecrated to the Lord for offering pure sacrifices to the Father. Unlike the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees, consecrated to gold, silver, and other material things, the heart of a bride of Christ is consecrated to the Father through Jesus Christ. Hence, everything that goes through a Christian heart is transformed into a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto the Lord. The breaking of bread or the Eucharistic celebration is the high point of these offerings that the Church makes to God the Father through Jesus Christ. Let us strive to grow proficient in offering this sacrifice daily, for that is the maturity of our marriage union with Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to grow in our desire for what you have promised and grant us the love of what you command, that breaking and eating the daily bread in faith and in your love, we may eagerly prepare for the fulfilment of the promise you made to us in your Son Jesus Christ.  

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