On the first day of the week Christ resurrected came to dwell again with His apostles. The only problem is that they did not yet realize who this man was. They walked with him, talked with him, and saw him and yet they did not come to the realization that He was the Messiah who has conquered over death. They finally came to this great realization when they were gathered together at table and He broke bread with them. It was in the breaking of bread that they came to understand who this man truly was and that He had indeed conquered over death on the third day and therefore was truly the Messiah. The apostles would continue to gather on the first day of the week, being Sunday, and partake in this breaking of bread even after Christ's Ascension into Heaven. The early Church would also gather in this manner, even if it brought about the penalty of death for those gathered. We to this day continue to find our Lord as the Church has always done through the breaking of the break that is only found here in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
In the Roman Canon of the Mass we hear the words he "broke the bread." This is the same intimate encounter that the apostles received following Christ's Resurrection that we continue to receive each and every time that we join within the Mass. We do not come here alone, but instead we are joined with the whole community of faith past, present, and future who join together at Calvary where time continues to stand still. At the Mass we should not be bored, but instead should be enamored with the sacrifice that we have the opportunity to partake within. In the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva "The Mass is long you say and I reply, because your love is short." Indeed within the Mass we have the opportunity to partake within the greatest love story that was ever told, which was told upon the cross. It was here that God who took on human flesh in the incarnation submitted to the suffering of the cross in order that we may be saved from sin. This was a great action of love which we partake within at every single Mass that we attend.
In this fast paced world we have a desire to find belonging. We want to be loved and in return we want to love. The problem is this desire is often distorted through our never ending litany of events which will hopefully give us this belonging that we are in search of. New age religion, sports, and other frivolous pursuits will never give us this belonging, but instead they will always leave us empty. If we truly want to discover belonging, we must invest ourselves in the love for the Mass. It is here that we will join with the apostles who found their belonging at the table when Christ broke the bread. It is here that we will join with the saints of the early Church at table when they encountered Christ through the breaking of bread. When Christ comes and breaks the bread with us we will indeed discover our belonging. There is no greater truth in this world then that of a God who loves us so much that He allows us to come into communion with Him in the form of bread and wine. If we truly want to discover belonging and to be a people of authentic faith we will desire to grow in our love for the Holy Eucharist.
At times we have a confusion where feeling is attributed to what makes up our faith. If we feel good, that of course is great, but at the moment that we stop feeling good does not mean that we are excused from having faith. We believe because we have faith and then from that faith flows our feelings be they good, bad, or maybe even nothing at all. Therefore we cannot say we will follow after the religion that makes us feel the best because they believe as I do, they have good music, or they have good preaching. None of this matters because our faith is not to be conformed to a mere feeling. Instead our faith is built upon the wisdom that Christ has left to the Church. The teachings of the Church are not unchanging because she is out of touch with modern society. Instead they are unchanging because this is what Christ has left for us and therefore the Church must continue to call the world out of the rut of sin, into the pain of conversion, and the eventual culmination of holiness. This is what the Eucharist calls us to embrace.
This day may we indeed continue to desire to become holy by casting away our sin. May we desire to fill our life with an outpouring of love for God. May we realize that our faith is not built upon a forever changing feeling, but instead is built upon that rock that is Christ our Lord. In the breaking of bread the elements of bread and wine are forever changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. This is an action of great love which each of us has the invitation to be part of. May we embrace this invitation of love through the banishment of mortal sin and through the pain that comes with conversion. When we embrace these elements we will be able to join Christ at table with His apostles and to truly begin to see Him as He is within the breaking of bread. Our sin and our lack of desire causes us to walk beside Him and to not realize who we are with. When we cast all of this away we are allowing ourselves to place Christ in our midst and thus we to begin to allow Him to become manifest within our lives. This day may we truly allow ourselves to behold the love of Christ through the breaking of bread.
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