When I was a young adult, I wanted to be thin. I exercised regularly and cut my carbs. I cut bread completely out of my life. Looking back on those moments, I realize I was also cutting people out of my life. My Grandmother and my Aunt Mary had baked fresh bread for us every Christmas and Easter. My Mom had bread and butter available as a side dish and as an in between meals snack. My Dad took sandwiches in his lunch from the time he was eighteen to his retirement. Sandwiches were my school lunch as well. The Bread of Life was received at every Mass I attended. If bread nourishes the body and the soul, why is bread the first thing to be cut in a diet? In my case vanity separated me from God.
Bread did not become important until, as a catechist, I had to explain how important it was in God's plan for His people. I was at a loss. I called my then boyfriend, now husband of seventeen and a half years, and he talked to me about unleavened bread at Passover, manna in the desert, the bread that sustained Elijah, and the Eucharist. If I look at bread as a gift instead of a threat, I will be more open to God's love. I won't be angry and sad anymore. I followed his advice, and I taught my students about God's love and His gift of Himself as bread. I am not as angry or as sad as I was then. Today, I am His.
Then He took bread, and after giving thanks He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My Body, which will be given for you. Do this in memory of Me." And He did the same thing with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My Blood, which will be poured out for you." Luke 22: 19-20
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