Kids Making Their Own First Communion Bread

[Guest T-Bone]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' post='1271368' date='May 11 2007, 02:12 PM']ye gave me a heart attack with this line..I pictured a bunch of tots sitting ON the altar table itself...

Then, I looked at the pics...so sweet...nothing wrong here...boogers not withstanding[/quote]


[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1271373' date='May 11 2007, 02:20 PM']I thought the same thing.[/quote]

ditto

[Guest T-Bone]

[quote name='FutureNunJMJ' post='1271390' date='May 11 2007, 02:54 PM']The bread that they make (on the website) looks a little thick. It makes me suspicious, unless they are Orthodox or Greek Catholic or something... I remember being given a plastic wrapped bread of loaf and we all went up on the sanctuary steps to listen to Fr. Mike give his First Communion homily. I was much more interested in the plastic wrap than anything Fr. Mike said. I even had thought about sneaking a little bread, but didn't. I don't remember much about it, but at the time, I did not consider how intense it really was. I think it had something to do with the wishwash kind of catechesis I was brought up on.[/quote]

If it was hand rolled, it could very well be thicker than commercially made hosts.

[quote]And the fact that I had just gotten over chicken pox before the Mass. I missed the rehersal.[/quote]

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1271398' date='May 11 2007, 05:05 PM']The thickness shouldn't matter.[/quote]

Maybe he was thinking that yeast or some other ingredient may have been added to cause the thickness...

[iggyjoan]

i dont really get what the big deal is about the ingredients. its still Jesus, right? it shouldnt matter what it is before its consencrated(i think thats the right word)

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

[quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1271517' date='May 11 2007, 07:21 PM']Maybe she was thinking that yeast or some other ingredient may have been added to cause the thickness...[/quote]

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='iggyjoan' post='1271529' date='May 11 2007, 08:38 PM']i dont really get what the big deal is about the ingredients. its still Jesus, right? it shouldnt matter what it is before its consencrated(i think thats the right word)[/quote]

I understand your point, yet the ingredients are very important.

[url="http://hoosiercatholic.org/cgi-bin/ambo/ambo.pl?record=38"]SOURCE[/url]
[quote]Dear Faithful Scribe,

Why is it that communion bread can only be made out of flour and water? and no other ingredients?

Dear Devoted Believer,

The bread of the Eucharist is the bread from the Passover Supper. This ancient ritual recalls the flight of the Jews from Egypt which account we have in the book of Exodus. From this tradition the bread that is used is that of people on the move and in a hurry to get moving. It is the most basic of bread because they were traveling light, not carrying all sorts of luxurious food ingredients with them, only the most basic wheat flour. There was no time to allow the bread to rise so it was a most simple task of mixing the flour and water, patting it flat, and sticking it into an oven. Check out the kosher section of your grocery store and you will see the contemporary Jewish version of this bread as matzo.

Sometimes people have tried to be creative by making the bread a bit more succulent. some places will make their own bread and add such lovely tasting ingredients as honey or cinnamon. This is not appropriate in that it robs the bread of its meaning as the Passover bread and makes it seem more like a scone at Starbucks. Not that Your Faithful Scribe has anything against Starbucks’ scones. In fact, Your Faithful Scribe delights in them (especially the lemon-cranberry ones accompanying a grande Americano with an extra shot.) Scones, however, do not Eucharistic bread make.

The Eucharistic bread is intended to remind us that Jesus is our nourishment for our journey. The asceticism of the form this nourishment takes helps us realize that the delight of our senses on this earthly journey must make way for the divine transformation of something so simple as baked flour and water into the body of Jesus Christ.[/quote]

[Totus Tuus]

[quote name='iggyjoan' post='1271529' date='May 11 2007, 09:38 PM']i dont really get what the big deal is about the ingredients. its still Jesus, right? it shouldnt matter what it is before its consencrated(i think thats the right word)[/quote]

Yeah, like the previous poster said, ingredients really are a big deal. Whether we see the logic in it or not, the Eucharist cannot be validly consecrated if there are any ingredients added which are not supposed to be. I'm sure we've all heard of times when sweet bread, french bread, etc., have been used during the service. Those things can't be transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

Edited May 12, 2007 by Totus Tuus

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

Here is a great podcast about the Jewish Passover and the Catholic Mass. They have a whole series about Jewish traditions and practices caried over into Catholicism and transformed by Christ.
[url="http://web.mac.com/cicdc/iWeb/KStreet/CICpod/F055EBBB-D082-4CF5-8900-65B09D9DC2A3.html"]http://web.mac.com/cicdc/iWeb/KStreet/CICp...B09D9DC2A3.html[/url]

[Ave Maria Totus Tuus]

Thanks for everyone's comments! Very informative.

[Akalyte]

ummm I dont know about that.... What has happened to the church? surely you people dont think this is ok?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Akalyte' post='1271779' date='May 12 2007, 09:10 AM']ummm I dont know about that.... What has happened to the church? surely you people dont think this is ok?[/quote]
Think that [i]what[/i] is okay? Baking the bread? Someone has to make it.

[Paddington]

It wouldn't be First Communion for whoever eats the booger. That should settle it, IMO. Kids shouldn't make their own bread.

[Era Might]

I know that it is a traditional custom in some of the Eastern Churches for a different family to donate the altar bread every week, although I think they administer in loaf cubes. I would be worried about the round host falling apart or having a lot of crumbs. It would probably be a good idea to check with the local Bishop to make sure everything meets standards.

[prose]

I think it is not a very good idea. I think it makes the children more focussed on the human, earthly bread, and for children, this can easily create an atmosphere where they overlook what it truly is ("look mom, I made that!!" , mom: "that is Jesus honey" kid: "no, I made it with mrs.sunday school" mom: "sigh").

I get that it is a fun project, and we did something like that to practice in rehearsal (we made our own "practice" bread), but when it came to the real thing, it was not about entertaining us, it was about Mass.

[bonoducchi]

I would honestly like to see a parish in which all the bread was baked by God's people assembled there. The hosts we receive today are not even reminiscent of the Passover bread which Christ used to institute the sacrament. Prefab little wafers do not give the fullest experience of bread being transubstantiated because we are not using a "common thing made holy". We are using a food made in a way that is foreign to most of us. Why not make real unleavened bread, that has imperfections and blemishes. What symbolism that is, since we too are offered at Mass (we are incensed at the preparation of the gifts), with all our blemishes and imperfections. Perfectly round Styrofoam wafers don't seem to convey the deeper theology of transubstantiation as well as more common forms of unleavened wheat bread.