Word to the Wise
Saturday, July 21, 2007 - Fifteenth Saturday in Ordinary Time
[Exodus 12:37-42 and Matthew 12:14-21]Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked it into unleavened loaves. They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey.
Did you ever wonder why we use unleavened bread made only from flour and water at the Eucharist in the Latin rite of the church? The above quote is the reason. The Eastern rites do not follow that observance but the Latin or Western rite does. Of course, Jews still observe the rule of unleavened bread at the Passover or Seder meal. It's what "matzos" is. The connection is with the original passover. And as the scripture goes on to say, "This was a night of vigil for the Lord, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations." Deliverance is an experience that may be individual or collective. Perhaps we each have some particular experience such as a healing from a life-threatening illness, recovery from an addiction, the removal of religious, political or racial or other form of discrimination. We Americans celebrate the 4th of July as a remembrance of deliverance. The use of unleavened bread at the Eucharist is a reminder that we were delivered by Christ from our sins and the celebration of the Lord's Supper is a perpetual vigil in honor of that saving event. We tend to forget this and take the Eucharist for granted. There are still places where this celebration is dangerous! The least we can do is what St. Paul says - to celebrate with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." AMEN
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