Living Bread & Giving Hearts

Moses said to the people: "Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14B-16A)

Home computers entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s.  About 40 years ago these computers burst on the scene, and the rest is history.  Therefore, in a way, we have been journeying not in a desert but through a paradise of information making our lives better and making us all more informed and smarter, so we hope.  For some, however, they have been an affliction by opening the door to hackers, those who bully, and forces found on the dark web where those with evil intent prosper.  These evildoers feed us swill and promote anger and hate.  There is no manna.

Not by bread do we live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD – from God.   But what is that word we hear that helps us live and live well?  Our second reading provides an answer.  It’s the Word of God, Christ, highlighted in the second reading: Brothers and sisters: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

The one loaf of bread is Christ, and all of us are slices of that bread, far more than crumbs.   Each of us – each slice – is a part of Christ, the body we all share as baptized Catholics.  And, we are to participate by making ourselves more informed and smarter especially to aid causes for social justice and against racism – that dark-web fuel.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:51-58)

We are Jesus’ “living bread” – slices of life committed to giving ourselves for the life of the world.  This means to make the world a far better place.  Peaceful protests against hate, bigotry, injustice, and racism are one way.   Charitable works are another.  Selecting and following leaders who understand they are living bread is an important way.

We participate in the blood of Christ.   Christ is our bloodline, and we must always honor it. One way to do so is for our flesh to give blood from our hearts rather than spill it.

Deacon David Pierce