Page 2 - Summer Solemnities - Good News

Where Do Hosts Come From?
The second graders at St. Ed’s were getting ready for their First Eucharist. The children had a lot of questions:
See how Communion hosts are made.
“The sheets rest overnight before we cut the hosts,” Sister Joan said.
Another sister pulled a lever on a big machine. A stack of hosts popped out and fell into a basket.
“We pack and ship hosts to parishes like St. Ed’s,” Sister Joan said.
“While I work, I pray for the people who will receive Jesus in these hosts,” said Sister Maria. “These hosts are just flour and water now,” she explained. “They become the Body of Christ when the priest prays the words of Consecration over them. We believe Jesus is really and truly present then.”
“Why do we believe that?” Sam asked.
“When Jesus shared bread and wine with his friends, he said it was his Body and
Blood,” Sister
Joan said. “We
believe Jesus
meant what
he said.”
KNOW
1 Whom do the sisters pray for as they work?
2 When is Jesus present in the hosts?
What does it taste like?
Is it OK to chew the host?
Is it really Jesus?
Mrs. Degnan held up her hands for quiet. “At practice, you can taste a host and drink from the chalice and ask all of these questions,” she said. “Tomorrow, we will go watch the sisters next door make hosts.”
The next day, the class walked to the monastery.
“Welcome!” said Sister Joan. “We are so happy to have you here today. Our sisters have made hosts for over 100 years. Can you guess how many we make in a year?”
“A million?” Sam joked.
“How about three million?” Sister Joan said. “We work five days a week. The sisters start mixing batter at five o’clock in the morning.”
Sister Maria poured batter onto
a machine like a waffle iron and
closed the lid. When the timer
buzzed, she pulled out a thin white
Do we have to drink the wine?
sheet.
com, kearia/Shutterstock.com; page 1 photo: Kamira/Shutterstock.com, Pinkyone/Shutterstock.com; page 2 photos: Corinne SIMON/CIRIC, EDA; page 3 art: © Bayard Presse – 2 • Good News Body and Blood of Christ Grain de Soleil 141 – Illustration: Hervé Flores – 2002; page 3 photo: Corinne SIMON/CIRIC; page 4 photos: Adam Jan Figel/Shutterstock.com, nito/Shutterstock.com, deryabinka/
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