That we might be what we receive
St Augustine
It is impossible to celebrate the mystery of Christ who is poor, gentle and humble of heart, who is merciful and a peacemaker, without being ourselves converted to these values.
Jean Vanier
We have caught a glimpse, and been attracted by “everything that makes Jesus the person he is”. His is the face which is turned towards us, his are the arms reaching out to embrace us, his is the heart of flesh which is merciful and compassionate, his are the hands washing our feet. “The bread that matters” is the self-giving love of God. This is the way which is truly life-giving. We want to “taste” and “eat” with an immediacy and an intimacy that transforms us.
Some people, who cannot see what nourishment they could be bringing, refuse to become bread for others. They have no confidence that their word, their smile, their being or their prayer could nourish others and help them rediscover trust
Jean Vanier
We say at every Eucharist: “This is my Body”. This is the miracle of the Eucharist, the embodied intimacy, where we “receive the mystery of ourselves!” (St. Augustine) This is the logic of the incarnation, when we enter another’s world, which always “means a break with ours”. In this conversion we enter into “the always-to-be-completed-story” of Jesus, the life of the world.
“My life, my bread”
It is you who lie upon the altar; it is you, your very life within the cup.
St. Augustine
Living is dailiness, a simple bread
That’s worth the eating.
Judith Wright
“Jesus took bread”. We “take” our bread- everything that makes up the bread of our lives.: our talents, our possessions, our energies and our enthusiasms, our hopes and dreams, our fears and anxieties, what we have in common, what we deny, the ways in which we abuse and misuse.
To live we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily and destructively, it is a desecration. In such a desecration, we condemn ourselves to spiritual, moral loneliness, and others to want.
Wendell Berry
The world and its history are the terrible and sublime liturgy.
Karl Rahner
Where is “creation’s bread” being broken in our world today?
Can I name places of sacrament, of holy communion in the lives of my sisters and brothers – locally, nationally, globally?
And can I name places where I/we break bread clumsily or destructively?
Where can I claim movements of grace in my life?
“Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him” (Luke 24:31)
Designed and painted by David Fichter, muralist.
The images in this post are from several murals painted by David Fichter, who has been creating community murals and mosaics for over 30 years, working all over the United States and in other countries, including Armenia, Georgia, and Nicaragua. He has worked with youth of all ages on over 200 permanent murals. For more information click David Fichter – Public Mural Portfolio – Boston Murals – Boston Muralist.
These four young men introduce their music with infectious enthusiasm and then launch into a beautifully meditative setting of Micah 6: 6-8.
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
—Micah 6:6–8
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
