Eucharist and Its Dementions

Eucharist And Its Dementions

Introduction

This paper attempts to describe the Eucharist from four different dimensions. The first chapter presents the ontological dimension of the Eucharist; the real presence of Jesus Christ in the sacrament. It focuses on Institution Narrative from the gospels and the Church documents on the real presence. The second chapter concentrates on the existential dimension of the Eucharist. It presents the Eucharist as >a sacrament of love= and >a sign of unity=. It also gives the Bible and the Church documents support in this realm. The third chapter presents the social-political dimension of the Eucharist and deals with the practice of Christian love in society. It also supplies the instructions of active love of the neighbor. The fourth chapter delivers the eschatological dimension of the Eucharist. It presents the Eucharist as a memorial of the past event and >a paschal banquet= of the future. The conclusion shows the importance of the Eucharist and briefly summaries the essential elements of the paper.

1. The Ontological Dimension

The belief of real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is an essential one in the Christian tradition. That dogma presents the Eucharist bread and wine as the real body and blood of Christ. The evidence for belief in the real presence comes especially from the words of the Institution Narrative in Mark's and Matthew's versions (Mk. 14:22 24; Mt. 26: 26 28). These two texts are very significant because they were a foundation for their further interpretation as it is found both in l Cor: 11:23 26 and Lk. 22:19 20, and they were used as the main texts in the celebration of the Eucharist. Looking at the texts of Mark and Matthew, we find two central components that assert the ontological dimension of the Eucharist in each of them: 1) the statement: "This is my body ... this is my blood" and 2) the context of this statement. However, the interpretation of these words can be twofold. The words "This is my body .... this is my blood" can be understood in a symbolic way; meanwhile their context can imply a strict literary sense that bread and wine are identified with Christ's body and blood.

This situation raises the question about the meaning of Jesus' words and acts in the Institution Narrative. Raymond Moloney claims that the notion of real presence is implicit in the text. He draws this conclusion from four exegetical approaches toward the context of the text: didactic, prophetic, cultic and sacrificial. First, a didactic approach to the text shows a lack of teaching character of its context. However, Christ implied a symbolic way in his method of teaching. Therefore, if the text is not didactic, it is also deprived of any kind of symbols or signs. Consequently, the text must be treated literally as it does speak about real presence. Second, a prophetic approach toward Jesus presents him as He acts as the prophet. If a prophetic gesture brings effect, Jesus' prophetic gesture must do the same. This would suggest again that the text speaks about real presence . Then, a cultic approach points out a Jewish ritual memorial context within which the Last Supper took place. If the Passover Meal implies the presence of Christ, the Last Supper does the same. But, Jesus is present in a more "organic" way during the Last Supper comparing to his presence within the Passover Meal. Moreover, what the final sacrificial approach says, Christ is also present in the bread and wine. Therefore, a connection between the cultic and sacrificial approach helps us to accept Jesus' words in the Mark Mathew Institution Narrative according to their literal meaning.

The encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI, Misterium Fidei, states about real presence of Christ in the Eucharist:

This presence is called Areal@ not in an exclusive sense, as if the other kinds of presence were not real, but >par excellence=, because it is a substantial presence by which Christ, the Godman, whole and entire, becomes present....the species of bread and wine undoubtedly take on a new meaning and a new finality, for they no longer remain ordinary bread and ordinary wine, but become the sign of something sacred, the sign of a spiritual food. However, the reason why they take on this new significance and this new finality is because they contain a new Areality@ which we may justly term ontological. For there no longer lies under those species what was there before, but something quite different; and that, not only because of the faith of the Church, but in objective reality, since after the change of the substance or nature of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and wine but the appearances, under which Christ, whole and entire, in his physical Areality@ is bodily present, although not in the same way as bodies are present in a given place.

2. The Existential Dimension

The various aspects of the existence of the Eucharist are presented in the constitution of the Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 47: AOur Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood....a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet @.

It is impossible to see a full dimension of Eucharist in its separation from Jesus' passion and resurrection. The Eucharist, as >the sacrament of love,= presupposes that Jesus died for all people because this is how much He loved them, as St. Paul writes: "God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Rom5:8). Therefore, the fact that Jesus died on the cross has its important meaning of God's love for his people. It does not solely mean Christ's death and suffering.

The same purpose of Christ's death as it reveals the Father's love to the people is expressed in John=s gospel: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. "(Jn 3:16). Paul in his letter to the Romans also relates Jesus= death to the Father Awho did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all@ (Rom 3:32). The self-offering of the Son on the cross is the expression of Father=s love for us.

The New Testament also shows that Eucharist as >the sign of unity= reveals the Church. The first Christians gathered together to break the bread. Every time they broke bread, they formed