Homily: Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Easter - Super-Substantial Bread

Every day, for some of us, many times a day, we pray the words of the Our Father, “Give us this day our daily bread”. This request is similar to the request Jesus himself received when he began to teach about the Bread of Life. Jesus said, “My Father gives you the true bread that gives life to the world.” To which the people responded, “Lord, give us this bread always”.

In asking God, “give us this day, our daily bread” we are certainly asking God to give us all the things we need for a healthy and holy life. God loves us, and wants to see us flourish, and become the best version of ourselves, as one of the posters in the school says. He wants to see us become as smart as we should be, he wants to see us become as hard workers as we should be, he wants to see us become as generous and charitable as we should be, and most of all, he wants us, when our earthly life is over, to be with him forever in His Heavenly Kingdom.

The great St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, said, “Pray as if everything depended on God, work as if everything depended on you.” Pray to God for everything you need to lead a healthy holy life, work, and work hard, to become as healthy and holy as you should. But all of these things require a choice. We have a choice don't we: to study or play video games, to work or to be lazy, to be generous or to be selfish. Becoming the people God wants us to be requires real work.

Yet, when Jesus taught us to pray for our “daily bread” he used a word that is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. The word which we translate into “daily”, is the greek word, epi-ousios, which really means, “super substantial”. Give us this day our, super substantial bread. We aren't just praying for ordinary bread that you'd buy at giant eagle or bake in your oven. We are asking God for a type of bread that only God can give.

Jesus says in today's Gospel that not only does he give us this special type of bread from God—the Bread of Life—He IS the Bread of Life. Later this week, Jesus will say, that this bread is his flesh and blood. Of course, we Catholics believe that this bread, Jesus gives, his flesh and blood, is the Eucharist. And he gives us the Eucharist, so that we might follow him for faithfully, and receive eternal life.

Last friday, our second graders had a retreat day, because they are preparing to receive the Eucharist for the first time. Today, let all who believe come to the Eucharist with that same excitement, recognizing that the Eucharist is God's answer to our prayer for the super substantial bread that brings eternal life to our souls and which helps us to be the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.