Synod on the Eucharist

The Secret of Success

CARDINAL IVAN DIAS, ARCHBISHOP OF BOMBAY, INDIA. "In the Synod sessions, among the many shadows in our Church today, the decreasing numbers of church?goers, the waning interest in sacramental Confession, and the lack of catechesis has been mentioned. These problems have been in the Church always, albeit in different ways. On the other hand, the Church has also had persons who have tackled such situations in ways which can inspire us even today. Everyone knows of the saintly Cure of Ars and great apostle of the confessional, John Mary Vianney, and of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the brilliant speaker who reached millions of people through his television and radio broadcasts, The secret of their resounding success was the many hours they spent in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. They could well be role models for priests and bishops today. There is a Chinese proverb which says: instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. As we are immersed in the darkness of spiritual and moral ills all around us, would it not be wonderful if bishops and priests all over the world would spend an hour in praise and worship before the Blessed Sacrament everyday interceding for themselves, for the faithful entrusted to their pastoral care and for the needs of the whole Church? Their flocks would certainly be edified and encouraged at seeing their shepherds practising what they preach on devotion to the Blessed Eucharist."

And Problems

CARDINAL JULIAN HERRANZ, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR LEGISLATIVE TEXTSPerhaps we should be more sensitive to the reasonable requests of the faithful who express their 'hunger for the Eucharist.' In fact, many of them complain of the difficulty of finding a confessor, even where priests are not lacking in the parish; they point out liturgical abuses and trivializing desecration of Eucharistic celebrations; they suffer because, contrary to canonical norms on public worship, churches are always closed except during community celebrations, and people cannot remain in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, etc. Since justice consists in giving each their rights ('unicuique suum tribuere'), we ask our Lady - 'Speculum Iustitiae' - to help us guarantee our lay brothers and sisters the exercise of their rights: for the good of their souls, but also for the apostolic vigor of the entire People of God."

Passivity of the Laity

BISHOP EDWARD GABRIEL RISI O.M.I., OF KEIMOES-UPINGTON, SOUTH AFRICA. "In the conference area of Southern Africa we have discovered that the role of the small faith?based community is essential in the preparation for and the celebration of the liturgy, and also the place where the gift of the Spirit is lived out. ... However, because of the shortage of priests, there are many communities who only celebrate Mass once a month, or once every two months. ... We notice that the most sacred part of the liturgy, the Eucharistic prayer, is the least attractive part of the Sunday liturgy. Although it is the central part of the Eucharist, the climax, it has proved to be the anti?climax. The priest does it alone, and the laity move from active to passive participation. We would propose that there be some form of responsorial participation which allows the people to participate more actively than simply by a respectful silence. We are not proposing that the role of the celebrant be diminished but rather that the people be given a role by which they support the celebrant and enhance their participation."

Synod on the Eucharist

A Suggested Name Change

- H.E. Most. Rev. Petru GHERGHEL, Bishop of Ia?i (ROMANIA)

I suggest a proposal to increase respect towards the Eucharist. Keeping in mind the Oriental tradition, the richness of such witness and the attempt of an exchange of gifts between our Churches, I propose using for the Holy Mass also the name “The Holy and Divine Liturgy”, next to the Latin one, already in use but not very precise. It would be a title that suggests in a better way the sacred and invites to meditation, to amazement, to silence, to adoration.
Finally, an appeal: let us conserve in the structures of our churches the most visible and accessible place for the Tabernacle, to avoid the risk of our churches becoming like lovely shells whose inhabitant no longer can be found there.

More Reverence

- H.E. Most. Rev. Gabriel MALZAIRE, Bishop of Roseau (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

In some of the dioceses that are predominantly Protestant and/or
strongly influenced by the evangelical culture some of the faithful have
difficulty appreciating the difference between the Mass and non-Catholic
worship. For practicing Catholics the Eucharist is very important for their
growth in the Faith.
Systematic formation on the Eucharist is most prevalent
for children and young adults preparing for first communion and Confirmation. By
and lager the adult population has depended on the Sunday homily for their
doctrinal and spiritual formation
Great efforts are made to ensure that the
Eucharist is celebrated with dignity, decorum and with true participation of the
faithful.
The awareness of the need for inculturating the liturgy is growing
in the Caribbean. Many of the faithful resist the short handshake for the sign
of peace. They want a more feeling expression of fraternity, such as a bear hug
or an embrace.
The Sacrament of Penance is not a regular part of the
spiritual life a growing number of Catholics.
Mixed marriages sometimes lead
to a diminished regard for the Eucharist. Intercommunion poses a problem in the
Antilles.
Many of the faithful believe Holy Communion leads to personal
sanctification and transformation of attitudes and engenders responsiveness to
the needs of others. However, for many others there is a disparity between what
they believe and how they live.
Some recommendations include: (1) A return
to the emphasis on Easter duties with its requirement for (at least) annual
Confession; (2) Reclaim the respect and reverence due to the holy places; (3)
The need for grater silence before and during the celebration of the Holy Mass;
(4) That pews with kneelers be returned to the Church so that people get into
the habit of showing reverence before the Blessed Sacrament.

The "Moment" of Consecration and Dialogue

- Rev. Peter-Hans KOLVENBACH, S.I., Superior General of the Society of Jesus (NETHERLAND)

The rediscovery of the Tridentine notion of sacramental representation by Odo Casel, recently integrated and founded under the biblical profile, opens encouraging horizons in the dialogue between Catholic and the Reformed Churches. Instead of saying that the Mass is the renovation of the sacrifice of the Cross, today we say more exactly that the Mass is the renovation of the memorial of the sacrifice of the Cross. In fact, the Mass is a sacramental sacrifice, i.e. the sacrament of that sacrifice, our sacramental re-presentation to the sole sacrifice.
The limit which sets the Catholic theology of the second millennium against the Orthodox one was that of analyzing the Eucharistic transformation on the basis of the notion of physical time, making it exclusively dependent either on the moment when the consecration words are pronounced or on the moment in which the consecratory epiclesis is pronounced. On the one hand as on the other, it has been forgotten that the moment when the transubstantiation (or metabolè) occurs is not that of our chronometer, but it is God’s instant, which is sacramental time. The Magisterium of the lex orandi teaches that this instant, being by its own nature, “beyond physical things”, admits two strong moments, both provided with an absolute consecratory efficacy: the institutional narration and the epiclesis. Referring to the consecration words and to the consecratory epiclesis, the notion of absolute consacretory efficacy does not support conflictuality or exclusivisms. Far be it from presenting itself as an obstacle, the question of the epiclesis is revealed as a real ecumenical bridge in the dialogue between Catholics and the Othodox.

Heaven

- H.E. Most. Rev. Jean-Louis BRUGUÈS, O.P., Bishop of Angers (FRANCE)

We need to take our part in the ongoing secularization: it is a weighty and lasting tendency. It has secreted a mentality - secularism - which singularly questions Christian conscience. Secularism challenges any form of relationship with the world beyond and the invisible world. There exists even a self-secularization within our Christian communities. What becomes of the Eucharist, “bread from Heaven” if there is no longer a heaven? The role that the Eucharist should play in the “new evangelization”, more precisely in evangelization by culture, should be defined. Our young people who have discovered in Eucharistic Adoration the source of their mission in the service of modern rationalism, should also be encourage.

Saint Daniel Comboni

From a Homily of Pope John Paul on Daniel Comboni:

From the time of his priestly formation in the institute founded by the Servant
of God Nicola Mazza, Daniel Comboni felt called to give his own life to proclaim
the Gospel in the land of Africa. This awareness stayed with him throughout his
life and supported him in his missionary labours and pastoral difficulties. He
felt comforted in this dedication by the words he heard from Pope Pius IX:
'Labora sicut bonus miles Christi pro African' ('Work like a good soldier of
Christ for Africa' Scritti, n. 4085).

The modernness and boldness of his
work were expressed in the preparation and formation of future priests, in the
tireless promotion of the missions by his writing and publishing, in the
founding of two institutes one for men, the other for women exclusively
dedicated to the mission 'ad gentes', by struggling for the abolition of the
terrible slave-trade and by actively working 'for the rebirth of Africa through
itself'. These insights of the new blessed produced great fruit for the
evangelization of the African continent by paving the way to the consoling
growth of the Church in Africa today (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in
Africa, nn. 3338).

'Leading humanity to the light of eternal life':
Daniel Comboni's ideal continues today in the apostolate of his spiritual sons
and daughters. They still maintain strong ties in Africa, particularly in Sudan,
where their founder spent a great part of his energy as a tireless evangelizer
and where he died at a young age, worn out by his labours and illness. The
unconditional trust he had in the power of prayer (cf. Scritti n. 2324) is
effectively expressed in the 'Cenacles of missionary prayer' which are being set
up in many parishes and represent a significant way to promote and renew
missionary spirituality. "

Pope's Angelus Message

From Asia News It:

This morning in St Peter Basilica, the beatification of Clemens August Von Galen, Bishop of Munster, Cardinal, took place; he was a fearless opponent of the Nazi regime. Ordained a priest in 1904, he undertook pastoral ministry for a long time in a parish in Berlin and in 1993 he became Bishop of Munster. In the name of God he denounced the neo-pagan ideology of National Socialism, defending the freedom of the church and gravely violated human rights, protecting Jews and the most vulnerable people, who the regime considered as rejects to be eliminated. Three homilies which the fearless Pastor delivered in 1941 are well-known. Pope Pius XII appointed him as Cardinal in February 1946 and he died barely a month later, surrounded by the veneration of the faithful, who saw him as a model of Christian courage. This is precisely what the timeless message of the Blessed Von Galen is: faith is not to be reduced to a private sentiment, possibly to be hidden when it becomes uncomfortable; rather it implies consistency and bearing witness in the public sphere in defence of mankind, of justice, of truth. I express my congratulations to the diocesan Community of Munster and to the Church in Germany, invoking upon all, through intercession of the new Blessed, abundant graces of the Lord.

In these days, as you know, the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is under way in the Vatican, to delve into the theme of the Eucharist in the present-day life and mission of the Church. I presided over the meetings in the first week and the Synod will constitute my main commitment in the coming two weeks also. I ask you to continue to pray for the Synod, so that it may bear the hoped-for fruit. In particular, in this month of October, during which all church communities are called to renew their missionary commitment, I invite all to take in what Pope John Paul II wrote in the fourth part of the Apostolic Letter, Mane nobiscum Domine, about the Eucharist as the ‘principle and plan of mission’ (nn. 24-28):

‘The encounter with Christ, constantly intensified and deepened in the Eucharist, issues in the Church and in every Christian an urgent summons to testimony and evangelization’ (ivi 24). This is emphasised in the dismissal at the end of the mass: ‘Ite, missa est’, which recalls the ‘missio’, the task for all who participated in the celebration to take to all the Good News received and to animate society with it.

Let us entrust this intention to the intercession of the most Holy Mary and St Daniel Comboni, whose memory will be commemorated in tomorrow’s liturgy.

May he, an outstanding evangeliser and protector of the African continent, help the Church of our time to respond with faith and courage to the mandate of the Risen Lord, which sends it to announce the love of God to all peoples.”

Synod on the Eucharist

Request for Religious Freedom in Muslim Countries

H.E. Most. Rev. Berhaneyesus Demerew SOURAPHIEL, C.M., Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Abeba, President of the Episcopal Conference, President of the Ethiopian Episcopal Conference (ETHIOPIA)

In some parts of the world, this is not possible: e.g. in Saudi Arabia or in some other Muslim countries. Sunday is a working day and the Eucharist is not celebrated because there are no Churches, nor priests, or there is simply no religious freedom.
From Eritrea and Ethiopia, there are many Christians who are working and living in Muslim countries. They are mostly Christians of the Ethiopian or Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Churches. They go there mostly to work as domestic workers, to take care of children or the elderly. I do not have the statistics of these Christians who go to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the Gulf States, and other Muslim majority countries. They are in the hundreds of thousands. Only in Beirut, there are more than 20,000 Ethiopians working there. We are grateful for Caritas Lebanon for the help it gives to these Christians.
Before they go to the Muslim countries, they are forced to change their Christian names into Muslim ones and, especially, the women have to dress in Muslim attire. Once they reach their destinations, their passports are taken from them and they suffer all kinds of abuses and exploitations. Many are forced by the situation to become Muslims.
They are forced to go to these Muslim countries because of the poverty of their own countries, and because the doors of other Christian countries are closed to them. We know that many African Christians die crossing parts of the Sahara desert or get drowned in the Mediterranean Sea attempting to go to Christian countries in Europe and America.
It is poverty which is forcing them to give up their Christian heritage, their Christian culture, and even their human dignity.
They are denied their right of expressing their religion: the celebration of the Eucharist, and the Sunday Mass. It is one of the religious persecutions of the modem times.
I request the Synod Fathers, especially those working in Muslim countries where poor Christians go in search of employment, to extend their pastoral care to these Christians and to ask the Muslim governments to respect the religious freedom of the Christians.

An Alarming Drop in the Number of Catholics in Brazil

H. Em. Card. Cláudio HUMMES, O.F.M., Archbishop of São Paulo (BRAZIL)

According to the statistics of the Brazilian Government and the Church’s research in Brazil, the number of Brazilians who declare themselves Catholics has diminished rapidly, on an average of 1% a year. In 1991 Catholic Brazilians were nearly 83%, today and according to new studies, they are barely 67%. We wonder with anxiety: till when Brazil will be a Catholic country? In conformity with this situation, it has been found that in Brazil there are two Protestant pastors for each Catholic priest, and the majority from the Pentecostal churches.
Many indications show that the same is true for almost all of Latin America and here too we wonder: till when Latin America will be a Catholic continent?
The Church must pay more attention to this serious situation. The response of the Church in Brazil is, in the first place, the missions including the permanent home missionary visits. The parishes have to organize their faithful and to prepare them to be missionaries.
A missionary Church must also be deeply Eucharistic, for the Eucharist is the source of the mission. The Eucharist helps the disciple to grow, announcing the Word of God to him and bringing him to a personal and community meeting with Christ, through the celebration of the death and Resurrection of the Lord and through the sacramental communion with Him. The disciple, through this meeting realized in the Holy Spirit, is urged to announce also to others what he lived and experienced. Thus the disciple becomes a missionary. From the Eucharist, one goes on the mission.
Brazil and Latin America urgently need this missionary action nourished by the Eucharist.

Intercommunion

- H. Em. Card. Walter KASPER, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (VATICAN CITY)

The theme “Eucharist and unity” goes back to what Saint Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians: “And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf” (1 Cor 10:17). This assertion “one loaf - one body” and “participation in the single chalice”, which means “communion in the single body”, modeled the entire tradition of the Church in the Orient and in the West. First of all, we find this first of all in Saint Augustine and once again in Saint Thomas Aquinas. For Thomas, the ‘res’, that is, the species and the goal of the Eucharist is not the real presence of Christ, which Thomas no doubt teaches, but for him the real presence is only ‘res et sacramentum’, that is, an intermediate reality. The ‘res’, the goal of the Eucharist is the unity of the Church.
This view was renewed in Vatican Council II, which rediscovered the Church as communion, through the common participation in the sole Baptism and the sole Eucharistic bread. On this point, we agree with the Oriental Churches; the Communities that go back to the Reform had the same concept at their origins, they have only recently abandoned this. Therefore, the Catholic concept of the intimate tie between Eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion is not - as some would tend to believe - a vague anti-ecumenical concept, but an ecumenical concept per se.
However, because of this reason, the terminology, which unfortunately is found also in the Instrumentum laboris, and that speaks about “intercommunion”, is ambiguous and in itself contradictory. It should be avoided. Since this is not an “inter” communion, that is a “between” two communions (two Communities), rather a communion in the communion of the one body of Christ, which is the Church.

Devoloping a Spirituality of the Eucharist

- H.E. Most. Rev. Miguel Angel ALBA DÍAZ, Bishop of La Paz en la Baja California Sur (MEXICO)

To form ourselves in the Eucharist, for this reason, is to be formed in the experience of grace, in the contemplation of the marvels that God does. It is to feel ourselves as graced, to experience the gratuity of all we are and have.
It is to be formed to “give thanks always, in every place and in all the circumstances of life”, appreciating life with its sorrows and joys and discovering that “everything happens for the good of those the Lord loves”.
It is to be formed to make of our life a Eucharist, to love and serve God and humanity with grateful love, to ,make of our lives a living and permanent offering.
To form ourselves for the Eucharist is to be formed in order to give worship to the Father “in spirit and truth”. Perhaps seven years of seminary seem too many to learn to say Mass, but they are too few to learn to celebrate the Eucharist.
The Instrumentum Laboris gathers suggestions that denounce serious negative practices. They are not only transgressions of the rubrics, but the expression of attitudes that ignore or deform the sense of the reform of the Council.
If precipitation in applying the liturgical reform has lead us to lose our equilibrium, in looking again for this balance, before proposing new initiatives, we must promote a spirituality that allows for the overcoming of both a passive ritualization and an excessive creativity, so that the Mystery can speak through the Liturgy.

Flooding in N.H.

In the city where I was born...

From Yahoo News:

"This is classic river flooding," said Jim Van Dongen, spokesman for the state Emergency Management office. "It's been raining since Friday night and there is nowhere for the water to go."

The most severe flooding was in Keene, where some major roads were under as much as four to six feet of water, according to fire officials. About 500 people were evacuated to the city's recreation center, officials said.

St. Pelagia

From Catholic Online - Saints & Angels - St. Pelagia:

Pelagia, more often called Margaret, on account of the magnificence of the pearls for which she had so often sold herself, was an actress of Antioch, equally celebrated for her beauty, her wealth and the disorder ofher life. During a synod at Antioch, she passed Bishop St. Nonnus of Edessa, who was struck with her beauty; the next day she went to hear him preach and was so moved by his sermon that she asked him to baptize her which he did. She gave her wealth to Nonnus to aid the poor and left Antioch dressed in men's clothing. She became a hermitess in a cave on Mount of Olivette in Jerusalem, where she lived in great austerity, performing penances and known as 'the beardless monk' until her sex was discovered at her death.