The Eucharist Part IV

Take, Bless, Break, Give

Jesus instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke recorded the event.

• Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” -Matthew 26:26
• And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” -Mark 14:22
• And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” -Luke 19:22

In each account, when Jesus gives the Apostles the most precious gift He would ever give, we are told that Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread and gave the bread. Throughout the gospels Jesus alludes to the Eucharist by doing the same four actions with bread on different occasions.

When He multiplied loaves and fish:

• He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples. -Matthew 15:36
• And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. -Mark 6:41
• And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. -Mark 8:6
• And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. -Luke 9:16

On the road to Emmaus, after His resurrection, with the two disciples:

• When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. -Luke 24:30

These four actions: taking, blessing (or giving thanks), breaking and giving, are almost always mentioned as something Jesus did with bread when He wanted to allude to – or institute – the Eucharist.

Why?

Company
The word “company” comes from the Latin words “com”, meaning “together” or “with”, and “panis”, meaning “bread”. When you have friends and family over for a meal, they are those whom you have “bread with” – your “company”.

You are also likely to pray a blessing, or give thanks before you eat the meal. Eucharist comes from a Greek word “eucharistia” meaning “thanksgiving”.

Eating a meal like this with someone had significance in the first century and still does today in some cultures. Eating of the same loaf with another is seen as an intimate act of friendship, because you would consume the same loaf of bread, which had to be broken so it would be in small enough pieces to be consumed by many. This is one reason why the religious leaders complained when Jesus ate with sinners. This is where we get phrase “breaking bread” with friends and family when you eat a meal together.

It is often customary to bring something to the meal to share or “give” to the others at the meal. When we say we are “sharing” a meal in its fullest sense, it means everyone contributed to the meal and everyone receives something from the meal.

Jesus’ Passion
Jesus’ Passion was foreshadowed by the Passover instituted over 1400 years earlier. In the Passover the Israelites were commanded to take and sacrifice an unblemished lamb, eat it, and put the lambs blood on the doors of their houses to save them from the angel of death (Exodus 12). Beginning the night of Holy Thursday, which was also Passover, Jesus instituted a sacrificial meal that would replace the Passover celebration. Later that night Jesus was “taken” by the temple guards. Already being the “Blessed” of the Father, Jesus was then “broken” on the Cross. Jesus “gave” Himself for the forgiveness of our sins.

The Mass
During Mass, just as during the multiplication of loves which foreshadowed the Mass, the priest “takes” bread when it is brought up during the offertory. During the Eucharistic Prayer the priest “gives thanks” (eucharistia) and “blesses” the bread, so it may become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Then, similar to when we break bread with family, the priest literally “breaks” the bread in what is called the “Fraction Rite” during the “Lamb of God” at Mass. This is not only to make the host smaller so it can be eaten. The breaking of bread in Mass represents how Jesus’ body was broken, so it can offered to many for the forgiveness of sins. While breaking bread makes it smaller or easily edible, Jesus’ body being broken made His flesh nourishing for Eternal Life.

In the Acts of the Apostles the earliest Christians described Mass as “Breaking Bread”:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.” -Acts 2:42-47

And to “break bread” on Sunday was a tradition early on for Christians, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread…” (Acts 7:20)

The priest then “gives” the Eucharist to the people, as the first priests – the apostles, gave the multiplied bread to the thousands. And we all share in, and are united by, the one Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ – the Church
St. Paul writes that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Jesus is the “head over all things for the church, which is his body” (Ephesians 1:22-23). “Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Ephesians 5:23).

As members of His Church, through the Sacrament of Baptism, we have given ourselves to Jesus. Jesus has in effect “taken” us and “blessed” us. Just as the words of the priest transform simple bread into the Body of Christ, the water’s of baptism transform us into members of the Body of Christ – His Church. Over our lives, with the grace of the other sacraments, prayer, and the continued giving of ourselves to Jesus in love, He continues to “take” and “bless” us.

Then there is something else. Jesus has to “break” us from sin. He spoke of this symbolically when He taught:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” -John 15:1-2

When you prune a plant you remove the parts of the plant that take nutrients away from the production of fruit. As is done often in Scripture, Jesus is using fruit as a symbol of love. Just like a grape vine takes all its sunshine, nutrients and water to produce fruit for others, we are to take all that Jesus gives us and produce love for others. God sometimes allows us to experience obstacles, struggles, disappointments, pain and humiliation to help us remove sinful vices from our lives – vices that take away from our ability to love well. He “breaks” us down, “prunes us”, so we “may bear more fruit.”

The giving of this fruit is the final act of Jesus. He “gives” us, as loving fruit, to others and to His Father. Just as St. Paul said, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Just so, it is Jesus who loves through us – having given us sacramental grace to love supernaturally. Therefore, it can be said that He gives us to others. Like a vine to the branches and on to the fruit, Jesus’ love flows through us and out to others.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” -John 15:5