Recognized in the Breaking of the Bread

Recognized in the Breaking of the Bread

Corpus Christi Sunday, June 14, 2009
Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Luke 24:13-35

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.

Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 7 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to Him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And He replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to Him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed Him over to a sentence of death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that He would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that He was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but Him they did not see." And He said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the scriptures.

As they approached the village to which they were going, He gave the impression of going on farther. But they urged Him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So He went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while He spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?" So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Introduction
Gone but not gone

In his ascension into heaven Jesus promised He would not leave us orphans but would be with us to the end of time (Jn 14:14; Mt 18:20). He kept his promise by sending us the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. He kept it also by giving us the Eucharist -- his abiding presence among us. Jesus is gone but not gone.

Everything & nothing has changed

Today we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi – the feast of the Lord’s presence among us in the Eucharist. With a bit of nostalgia we senior Catholics recall the solemn celebration of Corpus Christi of times past. It was, indeed, a big production. The Blessed Sacrament (encased in an elaborate monstrance and under a portable canopy) solemnly processed amid a cloud of incense through villages in valleys and hamlets on hills. Three times the procession stopped along the way for benediction with the Blessed Sacrament.

Today, the feast is no longer the big production it used to be. Since Vatican II (1959-1962) dramatic changes have taken place in our Catholic Eucharistic life. This is especially true for senior Catholics. We remember the pre-Vatican II days when on a Sunday morning only twenty to thirty people out of a packed congregation would rise from their pews to receive Communion! They were the ones who considered themselves “in the state of Sanctifying Grace.” The rest of the faithful -- those who had not confessed their “mortal sins” or those who were divorced and remarried or those who weren’t Roman Catholics or those who hadn’t fasted from every speck of food and drink from midnight on – they remained nailed to their pews at Communion time. All that has dramatically changed. Now at Communion time a whole congregation of sinners rises to receive the Eucharist. Communion now is seen not so much as a reward for saints but as food for sinners. It is now seen more as food for the human journey. Yes, indeed, we’ve come a long way since Vatican II.

Senior Catholics also remember the super-sacral approach to the Eucharist of pre-Vatican II days. Only the consecrated hands of an ordained priest were permitted to touch the Blessed Sacrament. Now the faithful receive Communion in their hands and from the hands of Eucharistic ministers who are not ordained. Some of them are not even males! Now the faithful carry the Sacrament home with them after Mass to a sick member of the family. Now with increasing frequency we hear the rumblings of a debate which gets louder as priests get older and scarcer: the debate about ordaining married men and even women as priests to provide the Eucharistic banquet for God’s hungry people. The very debate itself shows that we’ve come a long way from our Catholic Eucharistic past.

Yes, indeed, with Vatican II everything has changed except one thing: the Eucharist still remains central to our Catholic faith. Everything has changed, and yet nothing has changed.
Present in the bread (period)

Over the years I have formulated a simple but insightful (for me) characterization of those remarkable changes in our Catholic Eucharistic life: In the old days, the emphasis was on Jesus present in the bread (period). In this new day, the emphasis is on Jesus present in the breaking of the bread. That’s much more than semantics.

In pre-Vatican II days, the emphasis was on Jesus present in the bread, At the elevation of the Mass the Eucharist was (and is still) raised on high, so that all might gaze on Jesus present in the bread. We even rang a bell[3] at that important moment to make sure everyone was awake and was looking at Jesus present in the bread. There was a kind of salvation in gazing on Jesus in the bread held on high -- very much like the salvation that came upon the Israelites when they gazed upon the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses and held on high by him. (Num 21:4-9; Jn 12:32) We remember also how, on big feast days, benediction with the Blessed Sacrament climaxed Mass, as a kind of frosting on the cake. The Eucharist encased in the monstrance was held on high, so all could gaze upon Jesus present in the bread.

Present in the breaking of the bread

In this new day, the emphasis is more on Jesus present in the breaking of the bread. That’s more than semantics; that’s scriptural. Two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus meet up with a Stranger. At dusk they look for lodging and invite the Stranger to stay and have supper with them. At table, the Stranger takes bread, says a blessing over it, then breaks the bread and gives it to the disciples. Their eyes are opened; they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. (Lk 24:30-31)

Bread not broken and shared

A few years ago, I concelebrated at the funeral Mass of a dear friend who died on the operating table, as his loving wife and I were anxiously waiting outside the operating room. At the funeral Mass everything went off well enough until Communion time came. Then out of the blue, the pastor announced, “Catholics may now come up and receive Holy Communion!”

My gosh! Catholics know when it’s time to come up and receive Communion! At the end of the day, the pastor was subtly (or not so subtly) dis-inviting all non-Catholics from participating in the Eucharistic banquet. He was withholding the Bread that should have made Catholics and non-Catholics one on such a solemn sad occasion. What’s more, he had turned the Bread of unity, which should have made us one, into a rock of division. His bread had divided us into Catholics and non-Catholics. At the end of the day, bread had not been broken at that funeral Mass, and Christ had not been recognized. Only the Christian community had been broken into “Catholics who may now come up and receive Holy Communion” and those who may not!

Bread broken and shared

Barbara Marion Horn, a feisty lady from Ireland, with a gifted knack for words, has strong feelings about turning the Eucharist into a rock of division. In a letter to a Father Enrique from South America, she writes about a Mass of his which she attended.

Dear Father,

You may have noticed a woman weeping in the front row at Communion time. That would be me. I wept and wept and wept. Is there any way to put on paper what my heart and mind were immersed in? I will make the attempt, if only because I so desperately want you to know the great peace and joy you have brought me.

When Communion time came, you looked over the assembly and spoke the telltale words (perhaps the very ones which brought on Rome's final blow). “All are welcome,” you said. “This is the banquet, the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you feel called to join in his celebration, you are welcome. No matter if you have been away from the Church, belong to a different denomination or not to any at all, if you feel called to come forward and break bread, you are welcome. “

{Writing out of the bloody background of Northern Ireland Horn continues now in a higher pitch.} Suddenly my mind careened backwards and sideways and all over the place. Flashes of Protestant and Catholic ancestors at odds with each other, storming out of weddings and baptisms, fighting over the faith and refusing to break bread with each other—all that came roaring into my psyche. Sitting there, your invitation, dear Father, continued to wash over me. “All are welcome.” God, thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me live to hear such words. I am the luckiest person
alive!

Conclusion
Present in both

Is Jesus present in the bread (period), or is He present in the breaking of the bread? Catholic faith says He’s present in both. Whenever we break bread, whether at weddings or baptisms or funerals or anywhere else, Jesus is recognized in the breaking of the bread. But He is also present in the bread (period). He is present in the bread of the tabernacle. He is present in the bread of the monstrance, as it processes through villages in valleys and hamlets on hills, assuring us lonely wayfarers that we are not alone in the human journey.



[1]] By “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church institution but those whom the institution has left!

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24

[3] Since Vatican II the bell-ringing at the consecration has been silenced in most parishes.