LITURGY
LESSON: BREAKING OF THE BREAD
(Given: October 17
29th Sunday Ordinary
Time)
In the Acts of the Apostles St. Luke says, “They
devoted themselves . . . to the breaking of the bread.”[1] And in
another place, “. . . in their homes they broke bread.”[2] Apparently
that was one of the phrases used to describe the Eucharist in the early days of
the Church. During our celebration today, Father will say “. . . he took bread and gave you
thanks. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said, take this all
of you and eat it . . . .”[3]
In our liturgy the bread is actually broken after
the Sign of Peace just before Communion. This simple action was never, however,
just a practical necessity. It always
had a special, sacramental meaning. Not
only does St. Paul view the sharing in the bread that is broken as a symbol
that we are all one,[4] but a Second Century manual on Church discipline
says that just as this bread was broken, “(may) your Church be gathered
together into your kingdom from the ends of the earth.”[5] In other
words, because we share in this bread that was broken, we are all one and
should act and behave as if we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
This should not be a hidden action that is taken
for granted. We should watch the priest break
the bread and realize that it symbolizes the Body of Christ, the Church. Certainly Twenty-first Century life, with hundreds of people at Mass
means that only a few of us receive bread broken from the larger host. However,
even the Church’s instruction says that “at least some of the faithful” should
receive bread broken from the one loaf so that the symbol “will more clearly
bring out the force and meaning of the sign of unity and charity.”[6]