Growing up in working-class Makati in the late 1950's and the early 60's meant that my experience with bread was very limited. It was a time when the neighborhood I was growing up in, was one where there were more empty lots than houses. In that setting, getting the daily pandesal meant waiting for the sound of that manual air horn which signaled that the pandesal man who cycled on the streets of that neighborhood, was near. You wanted to be at your house's gate to make your order. If you did not hear that horn, pandesal wouldn't be part of your breakfast.

He would dismount his bike, deploy its stand, then open one of the two big cans mounted like panniers on the rear rack of his bicycle. He would pull out a paper bag from inside the can, open it with a quick shake of his left hand, grab the food tongs with his right, pick each pandesal to deftly put each piece in the bag, counting softly, then quickly folding the top part of the bag after putting in the last piece. "To keep the pandesal hot," he would say. He then puts the food tongs back in the can, closes it, all in quick succession. He cradles the filled bag with both hands, turns it over to you, and takes your payment. You now have your daily pandesal. If you wanted ensaïmada, you needed to wait for its vendor to call out his wares in mid-afternoon.

Bread was thus, special for me.

In contrast, it was basic for Middle Easterners like the Jews. They had been baking bread for at least 30,000 years. The Egyptians had been eating leavened bread for at least 10,000 years. Bread was so ordinary that the Jews named one of their cities after it. Bethlehem means "House of Bread' in Hebrew.

Jews prayed the Hamotzi, the prayer for bread at the beginning of each meal. The breaking of the bread was done during the prayer; it began the meal. Once broken, its pieces were passed on to all at the table for the meal. Sharing bread became associated with hospitality.

The type of bread one ate also reflected one's social class:

          Fine bread in a basket for the rich

          Simple loaf of bread for the poor

When we look at the place of bread in Jewish life, we begin to see why the crowds were pursuing Jesus.

They remembered the five barley loaves and the two fish from the boy. The simple loaves, ἄρτους (artous in Greek), were the bread of the poor. But the crowd recalled, as well, the twelve large baskets of leftovers, κοφίνους κλασμάτων (kophinous klasmatōn in Greek), from those simple loaves. They had baskets of bread such as only the wealthy could afford, from the simple loaves that were the staple of the poor.

Our Lord takes the opportunity to teach the crowd that they saw only the bread but not the miraculous sign, the (σημεῖα) sēmeia. The Jews had seen only prosperity but not true wealth, the Goodness of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus educates them that He can give them bread that endures instead of working for food that perishes. To the Jews' question that was, in fact, a challenge that Jesus produce the manna that Moses gave them in the desert, he reminded them that they misunderstood Moses. Even their ancestors missed God's work for them in the desert. Their ancestors, when they saw what seemed to be hoarfrost on the desert floor, kept asking, 'What is it?'; the phrase in Hebrew is 'mana'; Moses had to tell them, "This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat." 

God at work is the covenant.   

  • the individual personal relationship with God
  • God's involvement in the world
  • the command to bring holiness into every aspect of one's life
  • the life of the community
  • the faith of the family
  • the life of faith

These are the hungers that God assuages.

Jesus identifies Himself as the bread which feeds all the hungry.

Today there is not only a physical hunger but also a deep spiritual hunger.

There is a hunger for a life that is meaningful and has a purpose, one that cannot be satisfied by possessions – not even daily deliveries from Lazada™ -- or superficial relationships.

There is a hunger for community.

There is a hunger to be listened to and heard.

There is a hunger to be appreciated and loved.

There is a hunger for acceptance.

To believe in Christ is to believe that only He can satisfy our hunger. But at the same time, he invites us to feed others as well.

We go back to the miracle of the loaves. Our Lord broke the loaves, passed them on to those closest to him who then passed on to others what they had received. This is how they all got fed. We distribute what He shares.

The bread prepared during the time of Christ was bread which needed to be broken to be eaten. It wasn't like pandesal that could be torn to bite-size pieces. It was more like SkyFlakes®, which can be broken, but not torn. Jesus allowed Himself to be broken.

Jesus invites us to be broken bread too.

We pray to be ready.

We beg to be ready.

Sacred Heart Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, Philippines
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