September 20, 2007
Focus: Priests’ Day of Enrichment
Dear Friend,
Last evening I returned from our annual Priests’ Day of Enrichment. It is a time for all the priests of the Archdiocese to gather to hear a speaker, share fellowship, honor jubilarians, and remember those brother priests who have died that year. Of course, the two events that loomed large were the retirement of Cardinal Keeler and the welcome of Archbishop O’Brien.
The speaker for the day was Father Paul McPartlan, a professor at Catholic University in Washington, DC, on the topic: “The Current State of Ecumenism.” He was both interesting and informative. What I found intriguing is that Catholics tend to think of the Eucharist in terms of “I” (me and Jesus in the Eucharist), “Christ” (that the words of Consecration make him present), and “Past” (that the Eucharist was a past act that we simply repeat).
A fuller, more biblically based, way of looking at it is to say not “I” but “We, the Church” (It’s the Body being fed, not an individual); not to view that the words of Consecration as the primary act that makes Christ present, but instead, the calling down the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine. Finally, rather than limit the Eucharist to simply an event in the past that is repeated, view it as opening and empowering of us to the future, as Jesus himself assured us, “The Holy Spirit will lead you to truth.”
Once we are able to stretch our minds and hearts in this regard in dialogue with other Christians, we can return to the question of what the Eucharist means to each group respectively by approaching from a shared understanding of “We,” “Church,” and “Future” and who knows it could become the basis for Inter-Communion and eventual unity.
A very provocative day!
Best regards,
Father Nick Amato
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