Dear Sisters and Brothers in Faith:
Have you ever wondered why bread and wine are
offered at Mass? Why did God in his wisdom choose
these two consumables to be an acceptable offer-
ing? This is a good question to ask because the an-
swer reveals a mystical reality of which many of us
are unaware.
The answer lies in what bread and wine really are.
The bread we use is simply comprised of wheat and
water. The wine is made of grapes from the vine.
Wheat, grapes and water are gifts to us from the
earth and ultimately are gifts from God. These basic
ingredients become bread and wine through human
effort. We take these gifts, and we put something of
ourselves into them—the same as when we make
our bread or wine from scratch, and it becomes our
own. We become part of the bread and wine.
What many of us miss is that when the gifts are con-
secrated the work we put into them becomes conse-
crated along with the bread and wine since we are
part of the gifts. This mystery is acknowledged in the
preparation of the wine as the priest (or deacon)
prays silently, “By the mystery of this water and wine
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who
humbled himself to share in our humanity.” We be-
come sharers in Christ’s divinity. This is our calling
despite our many flaws.
As sharers in Christ’s divinity we now have access
into the triune God who is love. We enter into this by
doing what love does: we give and receive. This is
what the Eucharist is all about. We give ourselves
with the bread and wine. God receives and blesses
them with his Holy Spirit. We then offer them again,
and God makes them into his only Son. Finally, we
offer to God the Son as the only acceptable sacrifice.
God accepts this and allows us to partake of his Son
in Communion. We give and receive. This is our rela-
tionship of love with God.
I hope you have a Christ-filled week!
St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us!
May the Holy Spirit always be with you.
Deacon Mike