Bread of Life: The Christian Life Through the Lens of the Eucharist: Foreword by Bishop Roger Jupp

By Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament

Bread of Life is a major new multi-media resource that aims to meet the needs of communities in the Catholic tradition of the Church of England. It consists of six modules which broadly follow the structure of the Eucharist. The modules have been designed with flexibility in mind: they can be delivered in any order; each can stand alone; and a module may be followed over one or several sessions, depending on what would best suit the community involved.

Written by leading thinkers in the Catholic tradition of the Church of England, Bread of Life is ideal as preparation for confirmation and first communion, as a refresher course in the Christian faith, or as a course for Lent or Advent. It is expected that further modules will be commissioned over time, but the initial six are:

1 I am the bread of life

2 He has reconciled us to God

3 The word of the Lord

4 Hear our prayer

5 The body of Christ

6 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord

Each teaching session follows the structure of Gathering (welcome and optional opening liturgy), Word (teaching supported by video, audio, slides and writing), Communion (discussion among the group) and Sending out (practical applications and optional closing liturgy).

Videos, podcasts, PowerPoint slides and theological background material for each module can be downloaded from breadoflifecourse.co.uk.

The course has received considerable investment from CBS (The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament) and across the Church. This is reflected in the quality of the videos - which have been specially commissioned and filmed in biblical locations such as Jerusalem and across the UK - and in the attractive course book, designed to accompany participants through their involvement with Bread of Life and on their ongoing faith journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SPCK Publishing
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9780281089505

Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament

The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (CBS) was established for the advancement of the catholic faith in the Anglican Tradition. It is a devotional society that prays and works for a greater devotion to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Book preview

BREAD OF LIFE

The Christian life through the lens of the

Eucharist

GUEST BOOK

Contents

List of illustrations

Foreword

Introduction to the course

Bread of life liturgies

1 I am the bread of life

2 He has reconciled us to God

3 The word of the Lord

4 Hear our prayer

5 The body of Christ

6 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord

Acknowledgements

Sources and copyright acknowledgements

Support networks related to the Absolute Truth video

Application forms for CBS

List of illustrations

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci © Alamy Stock Photo

The Last Supper by Giorgio Vasari © Alamy Stock Photo

Supper at Emmaus by Ticiano Vecellio (Titian) © Alamy Stock Photo

The Last Supper by Frans Pourbus the Younger © Alamy Stock Photo

The Last Supper by Jacopo Robusti (Tintoretto) © Alamy Stock Photo

The Last Supper by El Greco © Alamy Stock Photo

Foreword

Dear Guest

It is with a real sense of joy that I welcome you to Bread of Life. This course is offered to the Church by the oldest of the Anglo-Catholic devotional societies, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. Because of the Covid pandemic, it has taken something like four years to see this course come together, and my time as the CBS Superior-General has just come to an end. However, it still remains for me to commend this to you in the hope that it will help you to discover afresh how central is the Eucharist to our faith. Through it we celebrate the enduring presence of Jesus Christ in the way that he promised us. That presence is a transforming one as we travel with him on our pilgrim journey. Every time we break the Bread together as he asked us, as did those disciples on the Emmaus Road, our hearts burn within us, and we recognize and know him as the Risen Lord of the Church. In this way we, like them, are strengthened and sent out to tell others of the good news that we know in ourselves, that Jesus Christ is indeed the Bread of Life!

May this be so for you as well. May Bread of Life be a blessing to you on your own Christian journey. We are fellow travellers, on pilgrimage together in the loving company of our ever-present Lord who nourishes us with food he himself gives, his Body and his Blood.

Bishop Roger Jupp

Introduction to the course

Welcome to Bread of Life, a course designed from the ground up to be the start of an amazing journey in getting to know Jesus Christ with a new and deeper understanding.

A number of people have come together from across the Church to create a library of teaching resources to help you bring your faith to life. To start with, these resources include this Guest Book and accompanying videos and podcasts on <breadoflifecourse.co.uk>. As you read through the book, there are icons to show you when to click on these on the website.

You can find recordings of the Main talks of the initial six modules, along with PowerPoint slides and other teaching resources, on the website too. These offer useful focus points on key topics and relevant images to help you explore. If you’re leading the course, do make use of the deeper theological background material provided to help you prepare to teach each module.

Bread of Life is designed for those taking their first steps towards Jesus, for those who stand firm in their faith and are exploring a greater understanding of that faith, and for those who simply want to understand their desire to reach out and learn more about something that they can’t quite put their finger on.

As we develop more Bread of Life material, we would love to hear from you. What works well? What didn’t quite work? What inspired you most? At the end of each session, we’ll remind you to give us feedback. We really do want to hear from you. Stories of unexpected insights, of faith found, of shared love . . . anything that you’d like to tell us.

In love, and with prayer for your discovery of Jesus in this course,

Fr. Matthew Cashmore SSC

Chair of the Editorial Board, Bread of Life

Bread of life liturgies

At the beginning of a module

At the end of a module

At the end of an evening module

At the end of a module at any time of day