THE celebration of the Eucharist once formed the major justification for a lifelong commitment to the ministerial priesthood by young men.
Mark Lysaght’s task as the archdiocesan vocations promotions officer is difficult (CL 11/6/06).
Today the celebration of the Eucharist is so misunderstood that critics justify their non-attendance by claiming that the Mass is boring and not entertaining enough. Theology has been replaced by a catchcry equal to that of a theatre critic.
Marist Brother Mark O’Connor and the Archdiocesan Faith Services team co-operated recently in bringing Professor William T. Cavanaugh to Brisbane where he spoke about the relationship of political torture, terror and the Eucharist.
His experiences as part of the Chilean Church’s response to the Pinochet regime made him a witness to the public celebration of the Eucharist as a counterpoint to the kidnappings and disappearances that created fear and mistrust.
It made friends into enemies. The Eucharist is about the public ritualising of love; the Eucharist makes all enemies into friends.
Prof Cavanaugh delivered the humorous comment that his topic was not unlike the Mass.
The homily was the torture and Holy Communion the celebration.
We have ignored for too long Augustine’s direction to pray as though everything depended on God but to work as if all depended on humanity.
The feast of Corpus Christi is admirable in itself but we need to ask why there is no equivalent feast celebrating the Word of God.
The reforms of the Second Vatican Council require a focus on Word and sacrament. The Christ event as Eucharist is central to our lives only when it is the occasion around which we become community on earth as it is heaven.
Torture promotes evil by dividing the community.
Mass is never boring if it is the message and meal, foundation and summit of a healthy community.
VINCE HODGE
Paddington, Qld
