God Comes to Us As Bread
2018년 8월 11일Having lived and experienced the poverty and hunger of millions of his fellow countrymen in India, Mahatma Gandhi said, “If God were to come to earth, he would surely come in the form of bread.” Gandhi knew God comes to fill our deepest need, and what do starving people need more than bread? The good news, known by most Catholics, is that God has already come, and continues to come to us, in the form of bread.
Not too long ago (fifty years to be exact) the Church Father’s gathered for the Second Vatican Council to bring Catholicism into the modern world. One of the things they looked at was how we pray the Mass. Vatican II changed the language of the liturgy from Latin to the vernacular (living languages, like English, Korea and Spanish). They wanted us not only to understand the message of the Mass, but wanted more active participation of the people in the Mass.
Centuries ago, people rarely received communion, sometimes even less than once a year. The closest they got to spiritual communion with the Lord was when the priest elevated the host during consecration (That’s why altar servers ring bells!) or during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. As nice as these are, they are insufficient. Can you imagine being hungry and opening your refrigerator but just looking at the food and not eating? Jesus did not give us his body as bread to be looked at, much less to be locked up in a tabernacle. He wants us to take and eat, so that we digest his gift, he becomes part of us, we become one with him, and our deepest hunger is satisfied.