Once I visited a friend without informing him in advance. I found his front door open. I just entered the house and asked: “Is anybody there?”. The reply from the house was the following. “Who is there?” If I enter an empty church which is open, then I will not ask the question: is anybody there? I know, who is present in the Church.
About Father John Maria Vianny, the father of Ars, it is said that during the catechism class to the members of his parish he used to show the tabernacle and remind the people saying: “He is there”, “the Lord is there”. If we believe and proclaim that Jesus Christ is present in the church and in the Eucharist in the tabernacle, we may also ask: “how can God be near to us and present to us in the church.
Jesus chose to be present among us in the form of bread namely in the form of food, because everyone needs bread; everyone needs food and drink. Bread/food is a basic need. Without food and drink we will not survive. Bread is something holy, something special, something divine. That means God is present to us in the most simple way and in the form of our basic need.
But it is said that that in spite of abundance of bread thousends of people die due to lack of food and drink. In spite of many different gatherings and community activities many are lonely and isolated.
We feel that we need faith in God for the welfare of the people.
Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven. That means Jesus can be our food that sustains life. Jesus can give us food, love, life and fulfillment. God as bread and bread as God is the most divine confession of our faith. We believe in God who is very friendly to the human, who loves and considers us as His own children. We are allowed to call him Father. That is the mystery of our faith, the mystery of the Eucharist. This is a mystery to believe and a mystery to experience and a mystery that provoke us and prompt us to action.
After the consecration words the deacon or the priest says in the Latin Liturgy: “Mystery of Faith”. In Latin it is: “Mysterium fidei”. In 1965 Pope Paul VI wrote an Encyclical with the title: Mysterium fidei: In this encyclical the Pope invited the faithful to experience the mystery of faith. The response of the community expresses the depth of the mystery of the Eucharist that they experience: “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again” (1 Cor. 11,26). This response from the community is from the letter to the Corinthians in which St Paul reminds about the meaning of the eucharistic celebration.
In order to experience this mystery deeply Jesus gave a number of signs and symbols. An importantan sign or symbol among them is bread. During the miraculous multiplication of bread Jesus revealed how the experience of the mystery of the love of God could make many people happy and satisfied. The gospel of John chapter 6 deal with this theme.
The first reaction of the people about the wonder of multiplying five bread and two fish was the surprise and admiration about Jesus. Many people wondered at the great event and the great work of Jesus. Similar happenings take place in the eucharist. During each eucharistic celebration and receiving of the holy communion we experience God in a special way and admire at Jesus through prayer, hymns and music.
Through the miracle of the multiplication of bread a few thousands of people could eat well at least for an evening. The message of the Eucharist and the will the Lord is that we should work to eliminate every kind of hunger and thirst of the world.
During the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and common meal thereafter the people experienced a sort of communion and belongingness. They were hopeful because of Jesus. Through the eucharistic celebration and receiving the holy communion we are also hopeful and convinced that we could place our hope on Jesus and we could come to him in our anxiety and problems.
This experience is the mystery of faith. This is the mystery of the eucharist. This is an experience of the message of the miraculous work of Jesus, about the death and resurrection of Jesus which was revealed to the world as the revelation of God, according to our faith.
We experience today that many have lost the meaning of their faith. People want to prove everything and confirm according to their God given intellectual capacity.They forget that there may be many things in the world beyond their grasp. There are many who lost and left the spirit of the Eucharist. But the Holy Eucharist is a mystery that can revive us and lead us to fulfilment.
Since common meals and communion were important for eucharistic celebration in the early church, not only a symbolic meals through the conception of the host, but a real meal after celebrating the eucharist took place. In the early days with the celebration of the Eucharist, people brought food and drinks for the celebration of the eucharist. But sometimes each one eat and drank what they brought, the food of the rich and the poor had different standards or they shared their food only with the equals. It was not thinkable for the participants of the eucharist to sit at a common table, each at his table was the custom. They came together in the name of Jesus Christ, but they did not want to have anything common. Therefore, St Paul says that what the people do is not the celebration of the Lord’s supper because each one eat its supper, some go home hungry and other drunk.
Therefore Jesus as bread of life is the inspiring source to work for eliminating every kind of hunger. Jesus as bread life safeguard communion and community. This bread from heaven is not only a miracle from heaven in the form of transubstantiation, but also a meritorious work of the disciples / followers of Jesus. Let us work together to satisfy the hunger of the world and foster communion and community in spite of difference and difficulties. Let us become the disciples of Jesus, let us become Eucharist.
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS