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 the entire Bible. So what does it mean?

When St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin around the year 400, he didn’t translate it as “daily.” He translated it as supersubstantial; above all substances. Many others would also agree the translation fits closer to something transcendent or supernatural. 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. And it completely reframed how I see what I would call the sticking point of the Catholic faith: 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. 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 it. And not just any lamb, it had to be unblemished. And here’s something fascinating: when that Passover lamb was prepared, it was often arranged on wooden spits in a shape that resembled a cross. Which is a detail that had to have been so apparent to Jesus’ followers in the upper room that received the Holy Spirit. To Paul, who was an a mission to tell anyone that would listen, Jesus is Lord.

So the pattern was clear: An unblemished lamb… sacrificed… and consumed. Now fast forward to Jesus. He doesn’t just die during the weekend of Passover 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. And then there’s something even more mysterious I never knew growing up. In the Temple, in the Holiest of Holies as they called it, there was what was called the “Bread of the Presence” literally translated, the “Bread of the Face.” I knew of the story of David eating the Bread of the Prescence when they were hungry, which was interesting in itself, but I never knew it was placed in the sanctuary before God and be brought out to the people and would be lifted up and shown to the huge crowds gathered. 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 to follow someone they had seen perform miracles, teach in way that effectively blew their mind. Now what he is saying, caused you to turn back, to leave him. It would have to be something equally as unconventional or earth shattering.

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.