Many Grains, One Bread

This past weekend, I returned to Holy Virgin Mary and Shoghagat Armenian Church in Belleville, Illinois, in the greater St. Louis area, where I began my ministry in America in 2015. On Saturday, members of my parish family joined me in the kitchen to prepare Nushkhar, the bread of Holy Communion.

For two years, preparing Nushkhar was part of my Sunday morning rhythm. Even now, whenever I make this sacred bread, I remember the words of St. Paul: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Though many miles separate our parishes, the one bread reminds us that together we are one Church—one Body in Christ.

Think about how bread begins. Many grains of wheat, each separate, each with its own shape and story. To become bread, they must be ground, mixed, kneaded, shaped, baked, many becoming one. It's a quiet picture of the Church itself.

We come to church as different people; different families, generations, backgrounds, struggles. Some have belonged for a lifetime, others have only just found their way home. Yet Christ does not leave us scattered. He gathers us to one table and makes us one Body.

Unity does not mean that we become identical. The grains do not lose their value when they become bread; together, they become something greater than any one grain could become alone. In the same way, God takes our different gifts, wounds, hopes, and stories and weaves them into one sacred offering.

The process is not always easy. Like wheat being ground and dough being kneaded, life can press and stretch us. Community requires patience. Love asks for sacrifice. Forgiveness softens what pride has hardened. Humility makes room for another person. But when we place ourselves in Christ’s hands, even the pressure can become part of our transformation.

The next time you receive Holy Communion, look at the one bread and remember: you do not come to Christ alone. You come with the whole Church, with those beside you, those far away, and those who came before you in faith.

Every time the Nushkhar is placed upon the altar, we are reminded: there is one bread, one Lord, one Church, one Body. And there is always room for one more.