BREAKING WORDS,
BREAKING BREAD
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Wednesday in Easter Week is, “Breaking Words, Breaking Bread.”
The Mass has two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Bread and words.
Two essentials to every meal: food and words.
Talk to me. Eat with me. Share words; share food. Share yourself.
It’s not good to be alone. It’s not good to eat alone. It’s not good to only be talking to oneself.
However, there are deaths and divorces – and we outlive another.
The beauty of memories; the better the marriage, the better the memories; the better the memories, the more difficult the missing.
And as Viktor Frankl says in his classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning, in the best marriages, the one who survives and has so much love for his or her spouse says, “I’m glad he or she went first, because I wouldn’t want him or her to feel the hurt and the missing I’m feeling now.”
Frankl could put words together – helping himself and so many others who went through the horror of death – he experiencing the death of so many in the concentration camps of World War II.
And when we eat alone or with others we not only digest food – we digest happenings. And to eat food and words – we cut the words up – slice and dice them – and share them with each other.
That’s the Mass in a nutshell: words and food, part 1 and part 2.
AT THE MEAL
When we were taught Scriptures in the seminary, we were taught that the words in the Bible came from folks sitting around and talking – and eating – sharing bread and wine, sharing words and stories.
Well, not all of scriptures – but much of it.
At every meal at St. Mary’s when Father Baumgartner was alive, he would sit in the same seat – and often tell the same stories – over and over again.
Is that the essence of old age – telling the old stories? And I heard all his stories – but I would notice that even though the essence of the story was the same – the emphasis would shift from time to time – and he would often add on new or different details.
And in listening to his stories, two things were happening. He was figuring out his life and we were figuring out his life - as well as wonderings about our own.
We need to do this. We need an audience. We need to digest each other.
I am totally convinced of the logic of the Eucharist. Jesus feeds us with himself at every Mass – with some words – with some food.
He feeds us with an earful and a mouthful every time.
When we were taught scriptures, we were taught that the scriptures evolved at meals and then someone wrote down the stories.
TODAY’S READINGS
In today’s first reading we have a story that was shared in the early church about the time Peter healed a cripple – the beggar who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate in Jerusalem. [Cf. Acts of the Apostles 3:1-10]
In today’s gospel we have the famous Emmaus story – when the two disciples headed home – figuring that’s it – only to meet the Risen Lord who helped put together the whole story for them – and he broke open his life for them – and I hope you heard the key words, “they recognized him in the breaking of the bread.” [Cf. Luke 24:13-35]
I hope you noticed that they used words to tell this to each other.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily was, “Breaking Words, Breaking Bread.”
Digest well Jesus in the word today – Jesus in the bread today. Amen.
Digest well Jesus in your life today – and all the days that led up to this day. Amen.
