Our Lord Jesus Christ clearly said that by eating the bread that is His Body and drinking the wine that is His Blood we will have eternal life (John 6:53-54). So why is it also read from the scriptures at mass?
The figure of bread is strongly linked to Jesus Christ, from the unleavened bread at the Passover meal; where yeast represents sin (Exodus 12:15-20, Matthew 16:6, 1 Corinthians 5:5-7); the birthplace of Jesus himself, Bethlehem which in Hebrew means “House of bread”; Jesus Christ himself describing himself as the bread of life and the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:35-41); and the last supper of our Lord Jesus Christ with his disciples, where he establishes communion through unleavened bread that will be transubstantiated into His Body (Luke 22:14-20). We must remember that this last event occurs in the context of the Passover feast (Luke 22:7), in which the tradition is to read the story of the Exodus from Egypt and comment on its meaning.
All of this establishes the importance of the communion of His Body through bread, but we must not forget Jesus’ own words when he was tempted, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus Christ also gave us an example of how to celebrate mass, when He met the disciples who were on their way to Emmaus, where He recounted the passages in the scriptures that spoke about Him and explained their meaning, ending at dinner where Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them, at which point their eyes are opened and they go out to proclaim the good news. (Luke 24:27-31)
The Church in its immense wisdom takes the words and works of our Lord Jesus Christ and gives us the mass, the paschal banquet through which we are to be able to achieve eternal life, through the Word of God and the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us go to Mass filled with joy and hope, let our hearts burn when we listen to the scriptures and participate in Holy Communion, for both are life that comes from God.