Broken Bread and Broken Bodies: The Lord's Supper and World Hunger

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Summary: Eucharist as a Doorway to Political Action
Review: In the preface to this new edition of Broken Break and Broke Bodies, Grassi speaks for the many when he asks what one person can do about the suffering of more than 15 million people who die of starvation each year. The answer, he says, begins with a deeper understanding and participation in the Eucharist to help mobilize effective individual and community action.

To that end, he devotes Part 1 of the book to a survey of pertinent social, economic, political, and religious forces at work in Israel at the time of Jesus' life. It also focuses on Jesus' commands about discipleship and examines the relationship between discipleship and the central theme of Jesus' life, service to the poor, the hungry, the oppressed

In addition, Grassi suggests that meaningful celebration of the Eucharist can lead to the "political and social action necessary to eliminate poverty and oppression, the root causes of world hunger." Part 2 examines how the Eucharist is meant to continue and expand Jesus' mission of human liberation and emphasizes the nature of the Eucharistic meal as one of sharing with the hungry and poor.