Credit for this lesson must be given to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama. All prayers, names of the stations and some of the writing from this lesson are from their outdoor stations and their accompanying pamphlet. Learn more about the shrine by visiting their website: www.olamshrine.com]
 
Station 6 – Bethlehem
“The House of Bread, Birthplace of the Bread of Life”
 
As every Christian should know, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This was prophesied in the Old Testament: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days…” (Micah 5:2). Fast-forward hundreds of years later to the Gospel of Luke. We read:
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the City of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7).

What is the connection to Jesus? 
Eternal Wisdom Incarnate had some good reasons for wanting to be born in Bethlehem. St. Thomas [Aquinas] mentions two of them [Summa Theologica 3a q.35, a. 7.1]. First, He wanted to be born in the city where David was born “so that the promise [made to David] would be shown to have been fulfilled from the very place of his birth”. Secondly, as St. Gregory the Great says, “Bethlehem” means “house of bread”. Now it is Christ Himself who said, “I am the Living Bread, which came down from Heaven”(cf. Jn. 6:41). The City of David is thus the birthplace of the Eucharist. “The place He was born,” says St. Bede, “is rightly called the “House of Bread”, because He came down from heaven to earth to give us the food of heavenly life and to satisfy us with the flavor of eternal sweetness.” Since the Church contains within her the Bread of Life, she can be called “the perpetual Bethlehem”. [1]

Station 7 – Wedding Feast at Cana
“Water Wine, Wine to Blood”
 
Little is known about the first thirty years of Jesus’ life. He comes bursting onto the scene when He performs His first miracle:

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”…Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’ So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now” (Jn. 1-5, 7-10).

What is the connection to the Eucharist? 
He once in Cana of Galilee, turned the water into wine, akin to blood, and is it incredible that He should have turned wine into blood? When called to a bodily marriage, He miraculously wrought that wonderful work; and on the children of the bride chamber, shall He not much rather be acknowledged to have bestowed the fruition of His Body and Blood? [2]
The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already announces the Hour of Jesus' glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ. [3]

Search: New Vine, New Wine
Search: Old Vineyard & New Vineyard

Station 8 – Multiplication of the Loaves
 
While Jesus was preaching, a very large crowd gathered and followed Him. They followed not only on account of his preaching, but also because of all the signs and miracles He worked. On one occasion near the Passover, He was teaching people who had come from many cities, when it grew late. Jesus desired to feed the large crowd. There were 5,000 men (not including women and children) who were there, and all they had were five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus, taking the five loaves and two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people, and he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. (Mk. 6:41-42).
 
What is the connection to the Eucharist? The multiplication of the loaves foreshadows the words Jesus will speak in the Gospel of John and during the Last Supper, by His giving thanks and blessing the bread. This miracle, Lord, among all of Your miracles is so markedly Eucharistic, as we see You say the blessing, break the bread, and distribute it through Your disciples to the multitude. Five loaves among five thousand men. This prefigures Your feeding (through the hands of Your priests) the countless faithful with the Bread of Life, the Most Holy Eucharist. So long as there is the Mass, there is the Eucharist, and the multitudes are fed. Not only do You feed us, but You satisfy us. Grant that we may always be satisfied with You alone. [4]

Station 9 – Bread of Life Discourse
 
Soon after the miracle of the loaves and fish, the crowds come to Jesus asking for more bread. Jesus takes this time to reveal that no bread can give them life except the living bread, which is He Himself:

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world…For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him (Jn. 6:48-51:55-56).

What is the connection to the Eucharist? Jesus leaves no wiggle room here. He is speaking calmly but forcefully to all who will hear. He speaks the truth of the Eucharist. Saint Hilary of Poiters reflects: “It is no longer permitted to me to raise doubts about the true nature of the Body and Blood, for according to the statement of the Lord Himself as well as one faith, this is indeed Flesh and Blood.” [5]

Saint John Chrysostom amplifies this further when he writes:
        
Let us in everything believe God, and gainsay him in nothing, though what is said be contrary to our thoughts and senses….Let us act wise in respect to the [Eucharistic] mysteries, not looking at the things set before us, but keeping in mind his words. For his word cannot deceive [6]

Station 10 – The Last Supper
 
This is the event to which all the previous stations have been leading. At the Passover meal Jesus established the New Covenant, the new priesthood, and the Bread of Life. We read in the Gospel of Saint Luke:

When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles….Then he took the bread said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise   the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you” (Lk. 22:14, 19-20).
 
What is the connection to the Eucharist? Jesus makes the connection between Himself and the bread and the wine. The bread and wine become His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem reflects:

Even of itself the teaching of the Blessed Paul is sufficient to give you a full assurance concerning those Divine Mysteries, of which having been deemed worthy, you have become of the same body and blood with Christ. For you have just heard him say distinctly, That our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My Body: and having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, Take, drink, this is My Blood. Since then He Himself declared and said of the Bread, This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any longer? And since He has Himself affirmed and said, This is My Blood, who shall ever hesitate, saying, that it is not His blood? [7]

Station 11 – Emmaus
 
After His glorious Resurrection, Jesus first comes to two disciples who were walking to Emmaus. He reveals to them that He is truly the Risen Lord in the “breaking of the bread” (Lk. 24:35). “And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight” (Lk. 24:30-31).
 
What is the connection to the Eucharist? Jesus reveals Himself fully in the Eucharist. We have to be of great faith to see Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Lord, when You walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, You listened to all they had to say. Besieged by their own worries and disappointment, they did not recognize You as the One of Whom they spoke. They did not recognize You until “the Breaking of the Bread.” Their eyes were then opened, but You had vanished from their sight. In the Holy Eucharist, though not visible to our bodily sight, we recognize You in "the Breaking of the Bread." As we listen in silent adoration, our hearts — like those of Your disciples — burn within us. And we repeat to You now the disciples’ plea and bid You to stay with us; for it is nearly evening. Stay with us, Lord, and may we always be with You. [8]

Search: Road to Emmaus
 
Station 12 – The Wedding Feast of the Lamb
 
Although the Eucharist is a great and undeserved Sacrament from God, it is still only a foretaste of heaven. The total fulfillment of Jesus and His Second Coming has not yet happened. The Book of Revelation gives a glimpse into the beauty that awaits us in heaven where we will celebrate the great Eucharist Feast of the Paschal Lamb:

Alleluia! The Lord has established his reign, [our] God, the almighty. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)…Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-8).

What is the connection to the Eucharist? Jesus is the Lamb. We are going to our eternal wedding feast with Him, which is the heavenly Mass.

The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist “awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ,”asking ‘to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you forever through Christ our Lord. [9]

When you see [the Body of Christ] set before you, say to yourself: “Because of this Body I am no longer earth and ashes, no longer a prisoner, but free: because of this I hope for heaven, and to receive the good things therein, immortal life, the portion of the angels, converse with Christ: This Body, nailed and scourged, was more than death could stand against…This is even that Body, the bloodstained, the pierced, and that out of which gushed the saving fountains, the one of blood, the other of water, for all the world…This Body has He given to us both to hold and to eat: a thing appropriate to intense love”. [10]