“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.” As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 20 in my series; for past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
A MANGER BED? Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, still shocks many by its very realistic rendition of what some say may be the most excruciating form of execution. (The word ‘excruciating’ is derived from the word ‘crucify!’) Just as the many ‘watered-down’ depictions of the Crucifixion lessen its severity and brutality, our saccharine Nativity scenes or ‘cleaned-up’ Christmas Creches do the same to the Infancy Narrative in Saint Luke’s Gospel. (Saint Matthew’s Gospel only mentions Christ’s Nativity in passing; neither Saint Mark nor Saint John record it.) What might our image of Christ’s manger be misinterpreting or misrepresenting?
A manger is an animal’s feeding trough, usually filled with dirt-encrusted straw, the saliva (and God knows what else!) from the animals who ate out of it, mold, bugs, and other critters. It is certainly NOT the most hygienic, germ-free place for a newborn child to sleep! Perhaps our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, being poor and on the road, had no other options and were grateful for a sheltered, warm site to cradle “little Lord Jesus, Asleep on the hay.” However, some suggest that based on themes that run through Saint Luke’s Gospel, the evangelist-physician – who wrote a Gospel and, many believe, the Church’s first biblical history book, Acts of the Apostles, and who was a Greek doctor – may have been trying to teach us some very important lessons!
The most obvious lesson is: God identifies with the poor and knows their pain, for – in Jesus – He felt their hunger and experienced their rejection. So, Saint Luke’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ concern for the outcast and stranger, the marginalized and hopeless. However, there are two more pressing themes that pervade Saint Luke’s Gospel.
JESUS: OUR SACRIFICIAL LAMB. Luke’s Gospel begins and ends in Jerusalem’s Temple, the site of sacrifice, where an Angel tells Zechariah he will be John the Baptist’s father. (Luke 1:5-25) Luke’s Gospel ends with the Apostles “continually in the temple praising God.” (Luke 24:53) No wonder the symbol for Luke’s Gospel is a winged ox: the animal sacrificed to atone for sins. Luke has no ox or ass at Christ’s crib; Saint Francis added them to his Creche based on this quote: “An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood.” (Isaiah 1:3) Hopefully, we are not as dumb – nor as stubborn as were our ancestors-in-faith!
LUKE EMPHASIZES THE EUCHARIST. All three synoptic (‘same eye’) Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) record the Last Supper in detail; John’s Gospel only focuses on Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet, but devotes Chapter 6, the Bread of Life Discourse, on the Eucharist’s significance. However, Luke records the most ‘meals’ – 12 in all – in which Jesus was the host or guest – stressing how He ate with the rich and poor, friend (Martha, Mary & Lazarus) and foe (Pharisees who despised Him); saint (Apostles) and sinner (tax collectors & prostitutes); crowds (4,000 & 5,000 at the multiplication of loaves) and one-on-one (Zacchaeus) – and these meals occurred before and after His Death and Resurrection!
Only Luke records our Blessed Mother’s words in her Magnificat: “The hungry he has filled with good things.” (Luke 1:53a) – which were fulfilled by the Risen Lord on Easter night with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:35) Although Jesus made a shoreline post-Easter breakfast for the Apostles (John 21:1-14), only Luke tells how the Risen Lord ate baked fish in their presence. (Luke 24:42-43)
So, as we put the image of Baby Jesus in His manger bed and add some blessed straw from our Parish’s Creche, may it remind us to ‘feed’ on Christ’s Eucharistic Presence often. That way, every time we receive Holy Communion, we can enjoy a little ‘taste of Christmas!’ Merry Christmas and a blessed, healthy New Year 2023!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS
“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.” As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 20 in my series; for past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
A MANGER BED? Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, still shocks many by its very realistic rendition of what some say may be the most excruciating form of execution. (The word ‘excruciating’ is derived from the word ‘crucify!’) Just as the many ‘watered-down’ depictions of the Crucifixion lessen its severity and brutality, our saccharine Nativity scenes or ‘cleaned-up’ Christmas Creches do the same to the Infancy Narrative in Saint Luke’s Gospel. (Saint Matthew’s Gospel only mentions Christ’s Nativity in passing; neither Saint Mark nor Saint John record it.) What might our image of Christ’s manger be misinterpreting or misrepresenting?
A manger is an animal’s feeding trough, usually filled with dirt-encrusted straw, the saliva (and God knows what else!) from the animals who ate out of it, mold, bugs, and other critters. It is certainly NOT the most hygienic, germ-free place for a newborn child to sleep! Perhaps our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, being poor and on the road, had no other options and were grateful for a sheltered, warm site to cradle “little Lord Jesus, Asleep on the hay.” However, some suggest that based on themes that run through Saint Luke’s Gospel, the evangelist-physician – who wrote a Gospel and, many believe, the Church’s first biblical history book, Acts of the Apostles, and who was a Greek doctor – may have been trying to teach us some very important lessons!
The most obvious lesson is: God identifies with the poor and knows their pain, for – in Jesus – He felt their hunger and experienced their rejection. So, Saint Luke’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ concern for the outcast and stranger, the marginalized and hopeless. However, there are two more pressing themes that pervade Saint Luke’s Gospel.
JESUS: OUR SACRIFICIAL LAMB. Luke’s Gospel begins and ends in Jerusalem’s Temple, the site of sacrifice, where an Angel tells Zechariah he will be John the Baptist’s father. (Luke 1:5-25) Luke’s Gospel ends with the Apostles “continually in the temple praising God.” (Luke 24:53) No wonder the symbol for Luke’s Gospel is a winged ox: the animal sacrificed to atone for sins. Luke has no ox or ass at Christ’s crib; Saint Francis added them to his Creche based on this quote: “An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood.” (Isaiah 1:3) Hopefully, we are not as dumb – nor as stubborn as were our ancestors-in-faith!
LUKE EMPHASIZES THE EUCHARIST. All three synoptic (‘same eye’) Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) record the Last Supper in detail; John’s Gospel only focuses on Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet, but devotes Chapter 6, the Bread of Life Discourse, on the Eucharist’s significance. However, Luke records the most ‘meals’ – 12 in all – in which Jesus was the host or guest – stressing how He ate with the rich and poor, friend (Martha, Mary & Lazarus) and foe (Pharisees who despised Him); saint (Apostles) and sinner (tax collectors & prostitutes); crowds (4,000 & 5,000 at the multiplication of loaves) and one-on-one (Zacchaeus) – and these meals occurred before and after His Death and Resurrection!
Only Luke records our Blessed Mother’s words in her Magnificat: “The hungry he has filled with good things.” (Luke 1:53a) – which were fulfilled by the Risen Lord on Easter night with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:35) Although Jesus made a shoreline post-Easter breakfast for the Apostles (John 21:1-14), only Luke tells how the Risen Lord ate baked fish in their presence. (Luke 24:42-43)
So, as we put the image of Baby Jesus in His manger bed and add some blessed straw from our Parish’s Creche, may it remind us to ‘feed’ on Christ’s Eucharistic Presence often. That way, every time we receive Holy Communion, we can enjoy a little ‘taste of Christmas!’ Merry Christmas and a blessed, healthy New Year 2023!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS