Heavenly Bread

Epiousios. That word opened my eyes.

In the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus teaches us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the original Greek text used is epiousios. And what’s fascinating is this: it’s a word that basically doesn’t exist anywhere else in ancient Greek literature.  It shows up only twice in history, and both times only in the Our Father. So, what does it mean?

Ancient translators, including St. Jerome in the 4th century, more often translated the word to mean ‘supersubstantial’, meaning above all substances.  The word broken down epi (above/over/beyond) and ousia (substance/essence/being) reiterates this claim. The Substance of the thing, goes back to Aristotle, Plato and the ancient Greeks. The Substance, is what that thing actually is in reality. It is in essence what that thing truly is. Think of melted Iron. The Substance of it is Iron, yet the appearance if heated enough is molten liquid. The Eucharist is the inverse of this effect. It appears as bread yet, while the actual reality, the substance, of the host is the body of Christ.

The people that walked with Jesus and the early Church Fathers, understood this immensely as you can see in their church writings over and over in the first centuries. St. Ignatius of Antioch who was born only three years after Jesus and lived until the year 105, said that the Eucharist is “The Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ,” and warned against those who denied it. It speaks to why the word that was used in the original Greek, in the Lord’s Prayer, needed something entirely ground-breaking as well… epiousios. Imagine if, for 2,000 years, Christians had prayed: “Give us this day our supernatural bread.” How differently would we hear that? That insight, and many others, were brought to life for me through Brant Pitre’s book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist.

Because, without a real understanding of the Eucharist, you can go your whole Catholic life attending Mass… but never fully grasp what’s actually happening. The gravity of it all. To understand it, we have to go back. Back to the Exodus. At the first Passover, the Israelites weren’t just told to sacrifice a lamb. They were commanded to eat the lamb for the Passover meal. Eating the lamb was pivotal. And not just any lamb, it had to be unblemished. And here’s something fascinating: when that Passover lamb was prepared throughout all the years Israelites celebrated Passover, it was often arranged on wooden spits in a shape that resembled a cross. Incredible really. This detail had to have been so apparent to Jesus’ followers contemplating all they have witnessed over the previous few days during the Crucifixion.

Now understanding that, reconsider scripture passages like John the Baptist saying “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” and later “Look, the Lamb of God!” Then in, 1Peter 1:19 “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.” Also, there is the book of Revelation, which is attributed to the Apostle John and references a glorified risen lamb twenty-eight times.

You see, Jesus went into Jerusalem for the weekend of Passover, and the Crucifixion and Resurrection happened over the Passover weekend, that’s not an accident. He is the Passover Lamb. And if the pattern holds… the Lamb must be eaten.

Then there’s Moses in the wilderness. The Israelites are starving, and God gives them manna, bread from heaven. But it came with a condition: they had to trust Him daily. They couldn’t store it up. It was a constant dependence on God’s provision. And yet, even that wasn’t the end of the story. Because Jesus later says: “It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven… my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” He’s elevating the idea. Not just bread from heaven… but bread that is heaven.

In the Temple, in the Holiest of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was originally kept, there was what was called the “Bread of the Presence” literally translated, the “Bread of the Face.” As it was set before the face of God. It would be brought out to the people for special festivals like Passover and would be lifted up and shown to the huge crowds gathered. Weekly however the Rabbis would consume the bread from the previous week. This wasn’t just symbolic bread. It represented God’s presence among His people. So now step back and look at the pattern: The Passover Lamb had to be eaten, Manna was bread from heaven, The Bread of the Presence revealed God dwelling with His people And then Jesus comes and doesn’t just fulfill one of these. He fulfills all of them.

So now knowing all the above additional context let us hear now again John 6: 53-56 and think it speaks for itself on what Jesus was trying to convey:

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”

Even more validating is the response from his followers:

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? and later: “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

What would cause such a reaction? People that had left everything. That saw Jesus perform miracles. Teach in a way that astounded them. Now, however, what he is saying causes you to turn back, to leave him. It would have to be something equally as unconventional or earth shattering.

If it still tastes like bread, and looks like bread, how can it truly be the Body of Christ? That question is fair, and in some ways, it opens the door to wonder. Because even in the natural world, we know our senses only capture a small part of what is real. Scientists tell us that the light we can see is only a tiny portion of the full spectrum, beyond it are infrared, ultraviolet, and other forms of light constantly moving around us, completely invisible to the human eye. Our homes are filled with Wi-Fi signals and data passing through the air right now, unseen yet undeniably real. In other words, reality is deeper than what our senses alone can measure. And this helps us glimpse the mystery of the Eucharist. The appearance remains bread, but Christ tells us something more profound has taken place. On the mountain at the Transfiguration, He briefly allowed the disciples to see what was always true, His divine glory shining through His human appearance. In the Eucharist, that same deeper reality is present, hidden not because it isn’t real, but because God meets us in a way our human senses can receive. The properties or characteristics are bread and wine, but the substance is now the body and blood of Christ. Substance as in, its actual reality. This is known as transubstantiation

If the Eucharist is just bread, then Mass is just a gathering. But if it’s what Jesus says it is, His Body, His Presence, the true Bread from Heaven, then Mass is the most important thing on earth. It’s heaven touching earth. It’s the same God who fed Israel in the wilderness…The same God who instituted the Passover…The same God who dwelt in the Temple…Now giving Himself to you. So when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread…” Maybe we should hear it differently. “Give us this day our supernatural bread.” And not just as a line in a prayer…But as a hunger in our hearts.

Because the truth is, every one of us is hungry. Hungry for meaning. Hungry for purpose. Hungry for something that actually satisfies. And Jesus’ answer is simple: “I am the Bread of Life.” And He doesn’t just want you to understand that. He wants you to receive it.

If angels could be jealous of man, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion

St. Maximilian Kolbe

If we could comprehend all the good things contained in the Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting in the heart of man

St. John Vianney

Do not, therefore, regard the Bread and Wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386)

What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ

St. Augustine

In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey

St. John Paul II

The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host

Venerable Fulton Sheen

The Eucharist is my highway to heaven

St. Carlos Acutis