Dear Saint Philip families, how is it that we learn anything in life? Hopefully we learn by listening to others and gaining knowledge from their experiences. But through the entire process of growth and advancement we move forward by building on the steps that have been taken before. That's the way it's always been and always will be. Such are the ways of God as he continues to lead his creation back to himself. Baby steps, sometimes two steps forward and one step back. 

Such was the case of the Jewish nation and the Christian people who followed them in their footsteps. The Jewish people held fast to their laws and traditions. After all, the Ten Commandments were given to them by God through Moses. But later on, a young Jewish rabbi, teaching with a new authority, would propose a new way to believe and behave. He would try to allay their fears by proclaiming that he "did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." (Matt 5:17)

So here we are 20 centuries later trying to put our arms around the concept of the Real Presence of Jesus in the eucharistic celebration. Could the bread and wine we take up to the altar truly become the body and blood of Jesus? Could that Blessed Sacrament we kneel in front of and worship truly be the Son of God? Well, the simple answer is yes. But in order to grasp this teaching we need to go back to the time of Jesus, and we need a guide. I found such a guide by reading a wonderful book by Brad Pitre entitled, JESUS AND THE JEWISH ROOTS OF THE EUCHARIST. This wonderful author lays out the history of our faith using the Bible, Jewish sources, and the Church Fathers to put together how we came to understand the truth of the Real Presence. We believe because the Jewish people believed first: in the real presence of God.

Jesus, being an observant Jew, practiced his faith. As his ministry progressed, he drew out new understandings of the Jewish laws and customs, in a number of cases adding something dramatically new. For instance, the night before he suffered, he took his disciples to the upper room to celebrate a Passover meal which commemorated the escape of the Jewish nation from Egypt. Instead of eating the roasted lamb and bitter herbs as was customary, Jesus offered bread and wine saying, "take this, this is my body . . . take this cup, this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant which will be shed for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt 26: 26,28). Jesus substituted himself in the place of the sacrificial lamb and gave a new and different meaning to the Passover ritual. But what was significant about bread and wine?

We have to go back to the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt to plant our feet of faith on a firm foundation. God instructed the Hebrews to construct a tent of meeting or large tabernacle and to place three sacred articles inside: 1) the ark of the covenant 2) The golden lampstand or menorah and 3) the golden table of the bread of presence consisting of 12 baked cakes. The ark contained: 1) the tablets of the Ten Commandments, 2) an omer (dry measure) of manna, and 3) Aaron's staff. The menorah was a seven branched candelabra which was to remain continually lit there in the Holy of Holies. The golden table on which the bread of presence was placed also had cups for wine and was set up as a memorial of the vision Moses had on Sinai where God made a covenant with this people and Moses and the elders ate and drank.

Some scholars argue that the bread of presence should be literally translated as the bread of the face of God. Therefore, the tabernacle is a physical representation of the heavenly place of God and the bread of presence is a physical representation of the heavenly face of God. Indeed, this holy bread was eaten by the priests and was offered as an "unbloody sacrifice" to God at every sabbath celebration. It was seen as a reminder of God's covenant with his people. (To be continued.) 

incerely in Christ, Deacon John Sarabia.