Little Brothers and Sisters of the Eucharist Handbook

Our Mandate

Our mandate as little brothers and sisters of the Eucharist is to become bread and nourishment for a hungry, broken and fragmented world. ”During the meal Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, ’Take this and eat it,” he said, ’This is my body”. (Matthew 26:26)

We are called to become the bread which Jesus takes into His hands, blesses, breaks and gives to the world.

To allow ourselves to be taken by Jesus is not easy. It requires a total abandonment of self, a surrender, and unconditional discipleship. ”Father I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me what you will...” As Jesus takes us, his grasp brings us comfort, peace, security and healing. We feel strong, full of courage, deeply loved and whole. At the same time, being taken by Jesus creates in us a sense of responsibility, insecurity, risk and v. It demands a constant death to self, the courage to be emptied again and again, the willingness to embrace a hidden, ordinary life and the perseverance and trust to remain faithful in the midst of difficulty and struggle. To be taken as bread is to utter our YES to God’s love and desire with all of our mind, all of our strength — with or entire being.

After Jesus took the bread, He blessed it. We are consecrated, made sacred - transformed by Jesus’ blessing. We are called to reflect again and again on the blessings we have received and the blessing that we are. In becoming a grateful people our lives become a source of contagious Joy and thanksgiving (a Eucharist) — a sign of God’s everlasting love and covenant with his people. Each time we contemplate our Blessedness, all that we have previously taken for granted, all the ordinary and dally events of life become great graces and blessings.

The blessed bread was then broken by Jesus. The breaking of the bread before the Resurrection is a sign of Jesus’ death and his own vulnerability and weakness. The breaking of the bread following the Journey of Emmaus is a sign of the new life and resurrection that flows forth having fully embraced his own brokenness. Allowing ourselves to become bread broken open can be frightening. Having our weaknesses, failures, fears and wounds exposed is both difficult and painful in a society which cries out ”be strong be number one at any cost”. Yet, when we are willing to embrace and share our own brokenness and woundedness, not only are we set free but so are our brothers and sisters. The grain of wheat must fall to the ground — die and be broken open to give new life. We do not seek brokenness in and of itself but when it comes we accept it as part of the mystery and call of being followers and disciples of Jesus.

Finally, Jesus gives himself in the form of ordinary broken bread — the culmination of his gift of self throughout his life. Jesus given as Eucharist is the ultimate realization of God’s covenant love, God Incarnate, the Word made Flesh, Jesus-given-to-the World. In no other action is the call to be given in ordinary concrete ways so clearly manifest. Jesus gives himself to be received, accepted, embraced and consumed by all. He gives himself for thirty years in hidden ordinary ways. He gives himself*. In fidelity to his family, to work, and the dally rhythm of a life of Nazareth. He surrenders His own desires and will, to give Himself to His Father’s love in a ministry of , presence and compassion — healing, touching, loving, freeing and forgiving, — allowing His very being to become^ source of life and nourishment to others. He is open and available to all, not only when it is convenient but most especially when it is inconvenient. Jesus gives himself Joyfully and totally, without condition or reserve, without counting the cost. It is in this that Jesus becomes Eucharist — Bread of Life — nourishment Given for peoples past, present and yet to come.