BREAD AND WINE

INTRODUCTION

The title of homily for this 22 Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Bread and Wine.”

Today’s gospel talks about a wedding banquet - food glorious food - while talking about just the opposite - fasting - not taking food. Then at the end of our short gospel reading for today we hear about wine. [Cf. Luke 5:33-39.]

Most Christians know about fasting - not from religious practice - as much as part of the process for certain medical tests. We all know about wedding banquets. How many weddings does a person attend in a lifetime? Do women like going to weddings more than men? Is it an obligation? Is it a want to? “Stop complaining, honey, it’s your brother’s daughter. Okay, I know, they live way out there in Des Moines. That’s going to be an expensive trip and things are tight. But we're going, right?”

Some questions: What is Luke trying to get his community of listeners to reflect upon in today’s gospel? Is it people who are off on the fasting as a way of trying to look better than others? Is it the question of people wanting to change other people? They still haven’t figured out the number one issue in life is the issue of people wanting to change other people into their image and likeness. Is it people who don’t see life as a banquet - and they want to drag people down to their sadness?

More questions: How does God see life? Is it a wedding or a funeral? What’s this stuff about the old and the new which we hear about in today’s gospel? I know the difference between a baby’s skin compared to the skin on the inside of the right or left arm just above the elbow of a 78 year old person - poolside. There's a difference between new cloth and old cloth - as mentioned in today’s gospel. There is a difference at weddings between the dress on a 22 year old gal with great big heels and her grandmother in a gray blue dress with big unglossy pearls  around her neck that were her grandmother's.

After reflecting upon these images and issues,  I wasn't sure what to preach on, so I decided in this homily to say something about bread and wine.

Wait a minute! I can understand talking about wine, it's in today's gospel,  but where did you get the bread from?
You’re right.

The mention of wine triggered for me its connection with bread.

Hence the title of my homily is: “Bread and Wine”.

We know about both. They are as basic as a kitchen or dining room table and a chair. And the image of a kitchen or dining room table triggers eating.

And there are always at every meal two things: eating and drinking.

I was going to say “You'll find bread and wine at every meal”. That’s true for Italy and various other cultures. However, most of the time one doesn’t find bread at Chinese Restaurants - and not everyone drinks wine. For their drink, they might prefer beer or pop or milk or water.

So I’m being generic here. At every meal there are food and drink.

Then there are also words. Words are an important ingredient at every meal - that is, unless we eat alone. Yet, even then we talk to ourselves - or some people grab for some words from a newspaper or magazine or book or they have the TV or radio on.

THE MASS

I preambled all of the above to get to the Mass. I see the Mass as bread and wine and words - and people.

What’s your take on the Mass?

Do you think meal? If you do, then you understand a regular inner question I often ask myself:  Why don’t people get the Mass?

The Mass is basic meal.

That’s my main stress about the Mass.

People get meals, so by pushing that I assume they can get the Mass?

TWO MEALS

The Mass is based on 2 meals.

The first meal was the last meal that the Jews had before they escaped from Egypt to head for the Promised Land. When the call, the warning came, the bread didn’t have time to rise. So they celebrated that escape with a memory meal -  forever afterwards - and with unleavened bread. They also had wine. And the Passover Meal ever after had bread and wine - unleavened bread and various cups of wine. In time, because they pulled the whole exit, exodus, escape off, it became an annual Thanksgiving Meal. It was celebrated every year at the time of a full moon. It was springtime - resurrection time - new budding life time. Thank you, God, thank you.

The second meal was that same Passover Meal. However, this was a specific one. It was the one Jesus celebrated the night before he died. It was his Last Supper. During that meal he said some powerful things - and gave us this Thanksgiving Meal - we've been celebrating ever since. It was in  the spring - with full moon - with unleavened bread and wine - several cups of wine. It also had the paschal lamb that was slain for the meal - along with the bitter herbs, etc. to remind everyone that life is not just the sweet, but also the bitter.

We get the story.

We know how meals work.

So we know the Mass.

Read my book. I have a whole book on the Mass - which I wrote a few years ago. It has all this in it and a lot more. But none of you read it, because the 3 different publishers I sent it to, sent it back with a rejection notice. I know rejection slips. Every writer does.

I’ll put this homily on my blog and maybe some publisher will read it -and give me a call. Actually I’m looking for an e-publisher or an e-publisher agent - because I have 8 books - that could be e-books right now.
Back to bread and wine - back to the Mass - after that advertisement.

OLD AND NEW - FRESH AND STALE

It also struck me last night that today’s gospel talks about old wine and old skins - new wine and new skins - old cloth and old patches - new cloth and new patches. It makes the point not to switch - otherwise things aren’t going to work.

Those images of skins and cloth - packaging and clothing - are also as basic as bread and wine.

It  also hit me that bread doesn't age as well as wine. Wine as today's gospel points out can get better with age. Bread on the other hand can become stale - but it seems less because it's unleavened.  This  is the bread that is given out in communion. We believe it's Jesus the Lord . Then we put what is left over into the breadbox -  the tabernacle. The practice with wine - The Precious Blood - differers. We don't store it after Mass.
Question: could we switch to leavened bread - to make it taste more like bread - so that people would make the connection of the altar table with the dining room table?

Answer: it’s not out of the question - but in the Western Church - the tradition has been unleavened bread.

It’s not out of the question because the Orthodox Churches and Uniate Eastern Churches, one receives leavened bread.

THE UPCOMING CHANGES IN THE MASS

We had a staff meeting yesterday concerning the upcoming changes in the Mass that start next Advent.

One of the reasons I’m talking a bit about the Mass today is because of that meeting yesterday. All of us said we’d be talking a big more about the Mass till next Advent.

Use of leavened bread is not one of the changes.

Question: if you could make 5 changes in the Mass, what would your five changes be?

Questions: if you’ve been a Catholic since 1965, you’ve seen changes in the Mass in your lifetime? Do you remember what you thought and felt back then when we switched over to English and the priest faced the people, etc. What are 5 things you liked about when that happened? What have you got used to that you like?

Question: what are the changes that are about to happen this Advent?

Sit down with bread and wine - and chat with each other about your take on what the Mass means to you.

Being here today - it’s not a Sunday - you’re telling yourself and everyone else that this getting together - to share bread and wine and words - is important to you.

CONCLUSION

I’m sure someone will suggest one change in the Mass would be no sermons or shorter ones. This sermon would be an argument for that position - because it feels like a patch job to me. Enough with the excuses.

In the meanwhile, the Mass is still basic meal - bread, wine, words, and people receiving and chewing, digesting and sipping and drinking up the Lord.

In the meanwhile the Mass is still the Passover Meal - what is there in my life that I have to pass over and where do I have to exit from and exodus to?

In the meanwhile, as we heard in today’s first reading, Jesus holds all things together. Thank God.

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Painting on top: Detail of the Last Supper by the Dutch Artist, Joos van Cleve [1485-1540] - Louve, Paris