December 2007
During the course of the past year the Canadian Church has been preparing to celebrate the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 15-21, 2008. In anticipation of the international event many celebrations are being held. What this occasion provides for each of us is the opportunity to review, renew and deepen our awareness of and our faith in the Holy Eucharist.
When the Second Vatican Council speaks of how Christ continues to carry on his mission in the world, it speaks of his presence in the Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. It shares more specifically the various ways of Christ’s presence stating, “Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised ‘where two or three gather together in my name there I am in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20)” (S.C.#7).
Several documents following the Second Vatican Council affirm the same in clarified forms. In 1973 the Sacred Congregation For Divine Worship affirmed, “In the celebration of Mass the principal forms of Christ’s presence in his Church are manifested progressively. First, he is present in the assembly of the faithful gathered together in his name.”
What an understanding of this does is lead us to a greater awareness of the existence and quality of the community in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Reflection on this leads us to chapter 11 of the first letter to the Corinthians, the first written record we have of the Eucharist in the New Testament. Paul was at Ephesus at this time and he received a message from Corinth that described several problematic situations in the Church, among them was the gathering for the Eucharist.
The problem that Paul addressed was that they did not have community when they came together. There are divisions among them. Not everyone was treated equally. There are “haves” and “have nots”. The best food was served to some while others received much less.
What Paul asks is “Where is the community? Why is the Eucharist of the community even started when there is no community?” Everyone should feel welcome and should have a place. It is only when you have this kind of community that you have what you need for the Eucharist.
There was a parish that wanted to renew its appreciation and practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation; they were asking themselves about what could be done. In their reflection they came to the conclusion that before they could touch the Sacrament of Reconciliation they needed to establish a reconciling community. For one year the homilies and bulletins reflected on reconciliation. Emphasis was placed on visiting neighbors, the sick, spending time with teenagers, the divorced and remarried, the marginalized, alienated and prisoners.
After a year of this they began to look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a community. They decided to have community celebrations with individual confession. Generally they agreed that never before had they experienced such rich celebrations of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
A good community is one where there is unity. Jesus the Lord is the one who makes us one. It is a gospel person who makes us one. The good news of community is filled with the spirit of compassion. In the gospel-inspired community everyone is important; no one is unimportant.
I have to ask myself “Have I caught the message of the gospel? Do I say ‘Brother Leper,’ Sister Prostitute’?” The gospel message doesn’t mean I have to like everyone. God likes them. God loves them and so must I. In the community we are to have prolongation of the mission of Jesus. The gospel is a message of forgiveness; it tells people that they are good, accepted in their weakness. The gospel community is alive in Jesus.
When there is disunity the community is not alive in Christ. As we realize our own sinfulness we will reach out in compassion to others. It is not too difficult to see that the greater the participation is in all of this, the greater will be the community and the greater will be the meaning of the Eucharist.
Eucharistic spirituality is a spirituality of acceptance. The Lord accepts us and we are to accept one another.
Consider oneself as a Eucharistic minister. In this position one is a sacrament of Jesus. Through the Eucharistic minister the Lord is saying to people, “Here I am”. This greeting is given to the little lady with the black veil praying her rosary, to the 280-pound truck driver with his hands behind his back, taught in Grade 2 not to chew the host, to the teenager with his hair standing up, his belt low on his waist and chewing gum.
The Lord never says: “take the gum out of your mouth, put the rosary away, concentrate on prayer.” Rather the Lord says, “Good to see you; glad you are here; welcome!” What the Eucharistic minister is to show is the love of God, the compassion of God. Jesus is big enough to take care of himself and needs us only to reveal his love and goodness.
The parable of the great banquet invites us to reflect further on the community of God’s people (Luke 14:16-23). Like all gospel parables, it is a story that reveals the nature of God, as Jesus knew him. The householder is one of the elite of a small town; he prepares a banquet and invites his peers, the elite. When they refuse to come, in anger the householder sends the servants out into the streets and lanes of the town to bring in the poor, crippled, blind and lame.
The arrival of the poor and physically disabled does not fill the banquet hall. The householder is faced with the option of either calling off the banquet or inviting more people. He decides on the latter and sends the servants to bring in everyone they find on the roads and lanes. To be more specific, the tax collectors, public sinners, prostitutes, marginalized, the people nobody wants.
The banquet hall at last is filled and the householder sits down to the meal with this group of people. In the culture of first century Palestine, sharing a meal was the sign of identification with those at table. Thus, if the householder joins in the meal, he is identifying himself with the marginalized, the ones considered to be no good, the public sinners. That is why the religious authorities and even the disciples of John the Baptist were so horrified when Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes. The fact that the parable makes clear is that everyone, no matter who they are, is invited to the banquet; and not only invited, but in some cases, urged to come.
In the parable the householder, the symbol of God the Father, completely joins the company. This is what God actually does in the Incarnation of his Beloved Son. In completely identifying with sinners, God becomes the opposite of who he is by divine right and dignity. God becomes a human being just as human beings are, sinners in desperate need of forgiveness and healing. Evidently God wills, at any cost, to share his inner life with us. God calls us into communion with God and with one another.
All of this shows us that the Gospel is not about earning the love of God, because we already have it. It is a matter of receiving it and of being grateful. Everyone needs God. It is not a question of being worthy or not. The issue is: will we, like those last invited to the great banquet, come in and sit down with the One who is hosting the party? Will we accept the divine hospitality and join in the banquet with God and the other guests? Will we gather as the community of God’s people, called together by God as sisters and brothers of our Lord, and together with him celebrate the mystery of the Eucharist, which makes us one?
In the Eucharist we share the Body and Blood of Christ, which makes us one. How necessary it is that we be free of all divisions, that we truly be community, since the Lord is inviting us to be one with him and with one another.
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron … It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore” (Psalm 133:1-3).