Submitted by
S. Daly

Age Group
8-14

Aim
To look at the significance of bread as a symbol in the Bible
To appreciate the opportunity of receiving Jesus in Holy Communion

Faith Group
Christian
Catholic

Resources
Bread, unconsecrated host

Time of Year
Lent
Holy Week
Easter

Script
1. Good morning.
Today's assembly is about bread.
God's way is like this: a woman took some yeast and mixed it into a lot of flour and all the flour rose.

2. Bread which human hands have made is important to us. Hardly a day goes by when we do not eat bread. This is why Jesus chose bread to stand for his body at the Last Supper.
Bread is good for us. It has a lot of the vitamins and minerals we need to live well.
Bread makes us strong.

3. In the Bible, bread is often mentioned when God is making someone strong, someone who was once weak or afraid.
For example, the story of Moses. When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, into the wilderness, the people grew hungry. They complained to Moses,

ISRAELITES: It would have been better for us to die in Egypt, when we had bowls of meat and ate our fill of bread. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill all of us with hunger.

3. When God heard this, he sent down bread from heaven. It fell to the ground like rain. The bread was flat and tasted like wafers made with honey. Its name was manna. Whenever the Israelites were hungry, God sent down this manna. This gave the Israelites the strength to continue their long journey, to a new land promised to them by God.

4. Every year, the Jews celebrated the day that Moses had led them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. They used to do this at a meal called the Passover meal. This meal was a great feast.

5. The Last Supper that Jesus ate before he was crucified was a Passover meal. He was about to journey into his Promised Land. On this day of unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, Jesus said to two of his disciples,

JESUS: Go into the city and prepare the Passover feast, so that we may eat.

5. Later in the evening, Jesus sat down with the twelve Apostles. He said to them,

JESUS: How greatly I have desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer.
For I tell you, I will not eat another until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God.

5. As they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and breaking it into pieces he gave it to them saying,

JESUS: Take - eat - this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.

6. Although the Apostles did not realise it straight away, Jesus was giving them the strength to face the fact that he was about to die. He was preparing them for the shock of his departure. When he broke the bread and shared it out, he was saying that he was really giving them his body, his life.

7. When Jesus was then crucified, his followers were afraid and did not know what to do. God gave them the strength to carry on, again using bread as a sign.
On Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. As he was walking along the road, he met two of his disciples. They were so sad they did not recognise him. When evening came, they stopped for a meal. As he sat eating with them, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew who he was by the breaking of the bread. His followers were learning that he was alive and this gave them the strength to carry on the task of teaching others about Christ.

8. Every time we go to Mass, we have the chance of eating the Bread of Life, when we consume the Host. Jesus said,

JESUS: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

8. This means that if we go to Communion, we receive the strength to try to live like Jesus did. This is a wonderful chance, which we gained when Jesus died for us. It would be foolish and ungrateful not to take it.
We will remember this as we say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father...
We will now sing "Eat this bread" from Taize. (Hymns Old and New number 690)