Our daily bread for our future life

Our daily bread for our future life

By: Laurence Gonzaga

This past Thursday was the traditional Corpus Christi Feast, celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday (New Advent). It was a beautiful liturgy in the extraordinary form. My friends who have formed a beautiful choir sung the propers and ordinary for the Mass. I even joined in choir for the ordinary chants. Father’s homily was very much the same as today’s sermon for the “Second Sunday After Pentecost”. In summary, Father made the following points:

1)      Communion in the hand is not the universal norm. It was originally granted as an indult in the 70’s.

2)      The majority of bishops in the 70’s said that communion in the hand was not advisable and that it would lead to a loss of faith in the real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. (Father was referring to the document Memoriale Domini, 1969, and can be read here. The bishops never wanted communion in the hand!)

3)      The new Mass lectionary has a scriptural index in the back which tells you in what Masses any Scriptural text is found in the readings of the 1 or 3 year cycles of the Mass.

4)      1 Corinthians 11:27-29 are nowhere to be found in the new Mass.

·        Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. (DRB)

5)      One must receive the Most Holy Eucharist worthily, that is, without any serious/mortal sin on the soul.

6)      We are Catholics and so this passage is most important for it emphasizes the real and substantial Presence of our Lord.

That being said, I would like to add a few things. Something we share with Protestants is the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. It is interesting that the Latin translates the Greek epiousion as supersubstantialem, and in English, supersubstantial in the Douay Rheims Bible (DRB) of Matthew 6:11.

·        Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον (Greek New Testament)

·        Ton arton emon ton epiousion dos emin semepon (My transliteration from Greek)

·        Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie (Vulgate)

·        Give us this day our supersubstantial bread (DRB)

·        Give us this day our daily bread (ESV)

We might get the idea that this may just mean we are asking Our Heavenly Father to give us what we need for the day (daily bread). However, I propose we may look at this as supersubstantial, that is, give us more than what we need to feed our physical nature, give us that bread which is above nature, super nature even, the Eucharist. Consulting Wikipedia, we find that that interpretation is possible as “necessary for existence” or “bread for the future”. The Holy Eucharist is our bread for our future life in Heaven.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Euchairst as the “source and summit” of our Catholic faith. If we truly believe as Catholics, what the Church teaches, then how can we stand not receiving our supersubstantial bread, daily?

Reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer St. Cyprian of Carthage has this to teach us:

As the prayer goes forward, we ask and say, Give us this day our daily bread. And this may be understood both spiritually and literally, because either way of understanding it is rich in divine usefulness to our salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread does not belong to all men, but it is ours. And according as we say, Our Father, because He is the Father of those who understand and believe; so also we call it our bread, because Christ is the bread of those who are in union with His body. And we ask that this bread should be given to us daily, that we who are in Christ, and daily receive the Eucharist for the food of salvation, may not, by the interposition of some heinous sin, by being prevented, as withheld and not communicating, from partaking of the heavenly bread, be separated from Christ's body, as He Himself predicts, and warns, I am the bread of life which came down from heaven. If any man eat of my bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. John 6:58 When, therefore, He says, that whoever shall eat of His bread shall live for ever; as it is manifest that those who partake of His body and receive the Eucharist by the right of communion are living, so, on the other hand, we must fear and pray lest any one who, being withheld from communion, is separate from Christ's body should remain at a distance from salvation; as He Himself threatens, and says, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall have no life in you. John 6:53 And therefore we ask that our bread— that is, Christ— may be given to us daily, that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.

Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises of Cyprian, IV, 18 (New Advent)

In this week of the Feast of Corpus Christi, let us reflect upon how we live out what we claim to believe, that God is number one in our lives, that the Eucharist is in fact the source and summit of our Catholic faith, and that if we are able to within reason, work towards assisting at the Sacrifice of Calvary, daily, and receive that bread which is more than what we need for our physical bodies, but is more than enough for our salvation!

God be with you.