“The Eucharist. The Celebrated Mystery” 53th Symposium of Liturgical Lecturers at Theological Faculties and Higher Seminaries Łódź, Higher Theological Seminary, September 12–14, 2017 (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II
The article treats the lasting relevance of the Magisterium of Blessed John Paul II during the Forty-sixth International Eucharistic Congress, held in the important Polish city of Wrocław, in 1997. The article highlights the originality of the theme of the Congress, namely, the important relationship binding together the celebration/adoration of the Eucharist and human freedom, while making appropriate cross-references to the same topic in other documents by the Slav Pope. Eucharistic orthopraxis is not only related to disinterested service in favour of one's neighbour in commendable actions of diakonia, but also to the quest for freedom in the context of the respect of civil and social liberties and the exercise of religious freedom.
The Liturgical Development of the Eucharist in the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church
This paper seeks to outline the historical development of the Liturgy, and in particular, the Eucharist from its Institution at the Last Supper until its present form. The authors examine the context of the Last Supper in some detail, noting the Jewish influence of Passover and the Roman persecution on the fledgling sect as it grappled during the first few centuries of its existence to maintain an identity and to flourish in spite of such persecution. The influence on the liturgy in ‘peace-time’ is seen through the diversification of rites. The establishment of the Roman Canon and the eventual standardization at the Council of Trent is explained. This paper concludes with the further reforms after Trent at Vatican II and discusses how they have been received. It is of course completely impossible to do justice to any of these topics in such a short and cursory overview as this paper must attempt. What the authors hope to achieve through this paper, apart from a broadening of their own understanding through the various readings in preparation for this paper, is to show how at each stage of the development of the Liturgy there will be differences, it is hoped that one can also see the similarities. The paper describes how the Mass moved from a communal meal to a sacred one; how at different stages the human and divine aspects of the Liturgy became important; and how because of this importance further fights ensued and were expressed externally through public disagreement over such major issues as transubstantiation, or internally within the Church between rites and Mass translations. To put it simply: The Mass Matters – and it is necessary to understand what it is in the Mass that led Catholics to be prepared to be martyred, to travel as missionaries in foreign lands, to baptise and to preach to converts, so that they might fulfil the Lord’s command to do this in memory of Him.
Eucharistic Communities 0511.docx
In Medieval Europe, the central authority of the Pope as the head of the Church was widely-appreciated across Europe. In 1378, the Papacy itself was vacated by death, always an embarrassing nonsequitur, and was filled by first two and then three claimants who virulently and violently made broad a war of their dispute. Theologian Phyllis Tickle notes that this event did two things: The spectacle challenged the narrative and the prevailing illusion “that there was one Pope and that he was directly and specifically chosen of God…”. Secondly, the contest evoked the question – “Where now is the authority?” Some observers, and the millions of people whose hopes were waste in the chaos, may also be led to the parade of theodicies. At the very least, in Tickle’s word, Divine Right was “pocked”. In the Reformation, Martin Luther, provided the answer: Sola Scriptura. With great excitement, the public and even many of its perpetually mendicant scholars turned with great interest to The Word as the sufficient and ultimate Authority. Scripture filled the Authority vacuum: Literacy then became the unintended consequence, because Scripture needed to be read. Readers “in turn accelerated the drive toward rationalism and from there to Enlightenment and from there straight into science and technology and literature and governments…”. By an irony few can appreciate, our world is again facing the spectacle of illegitimacy in leadership. We examine "ritual" --what it does and how it comforts us. The Reformation impulse divided, and remains divided over a ritual--the Eucharist. We examine that gesture. As Friar Rohr, among other "emergent" leaders, introduces his homily on the Trinity as a sacred circle dance. As Unitarian Universalists, we can join because opening the table, the circle, is always the invitation of mystery and tolerance. The essay is a reflection on why a ritual meant to bring community has been the one sacrament which Christians use to separate themselves from themselves.
Krzysztof Góźdź, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
2022
One will encounter views that there was no Supper of the Lord with His disciples, with the character of a religious and soteriological mystery, and that it only had the character of a simple supper or at most a mere Old Testament ritual. This position is ahistorical and anti-mysterial, and thus Arian and even secularist. On the other hand, there are frequent attempts to confine the Eucharist to the private sphere of life of the believers. The article shows that Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI strongly challenges such views. For him, the Eucharist is not only the heart of his humble life and a theme of his extraordinary theological thought but also the central event, as well as the summary (ἀνακεϕαλαιώσις: cf. Eph 1:10) of the entire history and of all creation, which tends towards union with God. Joseph Ratzinger/ Benedict XVI argues that in the Eucharist the integral Christ is present, with His whole Person, historical and at the same time glorified, and with Him the entire Holy Trinity. Such an understanding of the Eucharist has important consequences for the faith and social commitment of the contemporary Church.
The Daily Eucharist at the Council as Stimulus and Test Case for Liturgical Reform
Questions Liturgiques / Studies in Liturgy 95 (2014) 28-51, 2014
In order to study the contribution of Vatican II to liturgical reform, most scholars spontaneously will turn to the redaction history of Sacrosanctum Concilium. In this paper I am more interested in the question of how the daily Eucharist celebrated at the beginning of each of the General Congregations was experienced by those present. Were these celebrations experienced as an illustration of the reforms proposed in the Constitution on the Liturgy, or rather as a counter-witness to the sorely needed liturgical reform? My major sources are council diaries, at least those that are attentive to this aspect of the Council’s life. I especially rely on accounts of their liturgical experiences offered by two Latin rite Catholic “observers” of the Council liturgies, the French Dominican Yves Congar and the Irish journalist and Redemptorist Xavier Rynne; one Oriental rite Catholic Council father, the Melkite archbishop Neophytos Edelby; and two “real” observers: the United Church of Christ representative Douglas Horton and the Presbyterian minister Robert McAfee Brown. It will soon become clear that two types of Eucharistic celebrations received most attention in their diaries and chronicles: the divine liturgies celebrated in rites other than the Latin one and the opening and concluding ceremonies of each session. Especially in the first session the exposure of the mostly Latin-rite Council fathers to liturgies celebrated by Byzantine and Oriental Catholic Council fathers may have cured them from some of their prejudices concerning important issues of liturgical debate such as concelebration, the vernacular and communion under both species. The opening and concluding liturgies of the Council also received many comments, since as of the second session these liturgies apparently functioned as an occasion to put certain aspects of the liturgical reform of Sacrosanctum Concilium into practice and to draw lessons from this.
The Last Supper and the Holy Mass according to the teaching of the Roman Church – an ecumenical perspective, 2022
The article describes the Mass as a celebration not primarily performed by a validly ordained priest who does so in the historical past after the Last Supper. The article shows the celebration performed by each priest as a celebration in the Upper Room, where Jesus celebrates it the night before His death at the cross at Golgotha. The man-celebrant and his Eucharistic community are moved by the power of God into the Upper Room every time when they celebrate Eucharist in their historically distant time from the time of Jesus's celebration. The main celebrant of each Eucharist is Jesus celebrating in the Upper Room before His Death at Golgotha; every priest-celebrant participates in His priesthood in His historically once-time celebration. The author articulates the truth of the Holy Mass as the making present of us in the Last Supper. It is quite the opposite of making present the Last Supper in our celebration of the Holy Mass – as it is according to the common understanding. This understanding of making-present creates a new perspective in the ecumenical dialog. Table of contents: Introduction 1. What is the Holy Mass in relation to the Last Supper? 2. The making present of the Glory of Jesus after the making present of His Sacrifice 3. The time after the Last Supper and after the Holy Masskairos 4. Appendix: Clarification of the problems of Pius XII's time Conclusion The article was published in Polish in 2004 as part of the book: J. Immakulata Adamska OCD, W zadziwieniu Eucharystią. Rok Eucharystyczny 2004-2005 [In Amazement of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic Year 2004-2005], Borne-Sulinowo 2004, pp. 246-260. The translation into English was published first on the Academia.edu website on 7. December 2022.
The Church and the Liturgy in the Contemporary World (LS 25(2019))
Liturgia Sacra, 2019
The Church and the Liturgy in the Contemporary World In the contemporary world, when we talk about liturgy and people, we are faced with a potentially complex issue. Both the people and the liturgy, two essential subjects of this work, present a whole wealth of meanings that cannot be exhausted in a simple way. When we talk about liturgy, we should put questions about its theological content or about the various forms by which it is celebrated. Similarly, when we try to look at its participants, i.e. the people, we should scrutinize the diversity of their age, their mentality and their maturity of faith of faith (or lack thereof). This paper is an attempt to indicate certain intuitions that will allow us to look at more specific points of contact between contemporary culture and the liturgy. For this reason, this study will outline the cultural context in which modern people live. Following this line, we will also try to look at the inadequacy of certain pastoral forms that we can observe in regular pastoral activities. Such a perspective will allow us to highlight important features that belong to the nature of the liturgical celebration. Among them, we will list those points that correspond to the content, form and participants of the liturgy. Pytanie o kształt celebracji liturgicznej często powraca w dyskusji pastoralnej. Odpowiedzi jednak, które prowokuje, nie zawsze wynikają z refleksji, która uwzględniałaby zarówno kontekst kulturowy, jak i wymiar teologiczny liturgii. Niniejszy artykuł jest próbą takiego poszukiwania odpowiedzi na pytanie o liturgię we współczesnym świecie, które uwzględniałoby zarówno aktualną kulturę i właściwą mu mentalność, nie pomijając zarazem tego, co istotne dla celebrowanego misterium. Wobec tego, w artykule zostaje zarysowana charakterystyka współczesnej epoki i jej wpływ na myślenie kościelne. Dopiero na tak zarysowanym tle przedstawione jest to, co wydaje się dzisiaj nieodzowne dla celebracji, a co wynika z samej jej treści teologicznej: bezinteresowność, wolność, piękno i witalność.