Bread for Christmas

While listening to a cd about the spirit of Christmas, some things occured to me - specifically about BREAD.

Being a food-geek by nature, I find discussion about food always of interest.  Thinking about the connections between Christ and Bread resulted in some observations.  Consider:

• Jesus was born in Bethehem.  The Hebrew translation for Bethehem is "house of bread."  Of all the places in the WHOLE WORLD that God chose to take human form, He chose the house of bread, Bethlehem
• Jesus is the Bread of Life.  The 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John gives us Jesus' explanation that He is the Bread of Life  John 6:35
• Bread has been a basic staple of man's diet for all of our existence.  Every nation, every race, every historical society has made bread and depended on it for daily sustenance.  Jesus being the Bread of Life is no accident.  His love is an essential need for all of us.
• Bread is made by hands.  It does not exist naturally, but must be produced through effort.  The correlation here is that a human was MADE by God and was given to us for our nourishment.  God made his body.  The body of Christ did not exist naturally - it was MADE by God.

All of these thoughts led me to also consider the meaning of Bread as it relates to Christ's love.  Bread is something that is very basic and very accessible.  God chose to make Jesus' love ACCESSIBLE to all.  Rich and poor, Jesus - like bread, is accessible for all.

After looking at all of these thoughts, how can anyone NOT believe in the power of the Eucharist.  It is bread that becomes the body of Christ.  Given to us by Him.  Jesus did not hold up a plum and say "Take this plum - it is my body."  He chose bread and he chose it for a very good reason.

This Christmas, when it's time for your family Christmas dinner, please consider these thoughts and maybe make a special Christmas Bread.  Here are some links to some recipes that your family may enjoy.

http://winter-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/christmas_bread

http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekbreadspitas/r/christopsomo.htm

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/199715/christmas/how_to_make_christmas_bread.html

-Eric

Welcome to the St. Aloyisius Men's Prayer Group Blog

This is the blog for the Saint Aloysius Men's Prayer Group.  This blog will be updated as often possible.  Since we meet twice per month, we will have at least two postings per month.  Topics posted on our blog will relate mostly to the subjects we discuss in our meetings, but will not be limited to them.

Over time, we hope to have postings from all of the members of the Men's Prayer Group.  Our discussions are always interesting, lively, and certainly worthwhile of sharing outside of our meetings.

If you would like post to our blog, send me and email at nolafoodguy@gmail.com and I will add you to our list of bloggers!

This past Saturday, December 5th we discussed the readings from the second Sunday of Advent.  Out of that discussion, some key points were:

• The Prayer of St. Gertrude.  One of the members brought this up when we were discusssing praying for the souls in Purgatory.  Everytime someone says this prayer, 1,000 souls are released from Purgatory.  Imagine how many souls can be helped by this!  You can link to the prayer by going to www.olrl.org/pray/stgertrude.shtml
• Remember to spend time with your Guardian Angel!  The church teaches us that "From infancy to death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession."  Think about it!  Each of us have an ANGEL watching us with care and interceding on our behalf!  Here is a link to aseveral prayers for Guardian Angels:  www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?s=54
• The Prayer for the Dying.  The link to this prayer is : http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=477  Thanks to Adam for bringing this up for discussion!

Remember that we will be holding mini-summit in the Eagle's Nest on January 30th.  Look for details in the bulletin and on this blog soon!

God's blessings on each of you

-Eric