MEETING JESUS IN THE SACRAMENTS CHAPTER 5 THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

Unexamined presuppositions about the doctrine of God itself raise a further theological question about this [preceding] approach [namely, identifying the Holy Spirit as a female dimension of God’s being]. In what sense can it be claimed that God has “dimensions,” let along the the dualistically conceived dimensions of masculine and feminine? Such an idea extends human divisions to the godhead itself. It actually ontologizes sex in God, making sexuality a dimension of divine being, rather than respecting the symbolic nature of religious language.   We must be very clear about this. Speech about God in female metaphors does not mean that God has a feminine dimension, revealed by Mary or other women. Nor does the use of male metaphors mean that God has a masculine dimension, revealed by Jesus or other men; or an animal dimension, revealed by lions or great mother birds; or a mineral dimension, which corresponds with naming God a rock. Images and names of God do not aim to identify merely “part” of the divine mystery, were that even possible. Rather, they intend to evoke the whole. Female imagery by itself points to God as such and has the capacity to represent God not only as nurturing, although certainly that, but as powerful, initiating, creating-redeeming-saving, and victorious over the powers of this world. If women are created in the image of God, then God can be spoken of in female metaphors in as full and a limited a way as God is imaged in male ones, without talk of feminine dimensions reducing the impact of this imagery. Understanding the Holy Spirit as the feminine dimension of the divine within a patriarchal framework is no solution. Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992), 54. 

Source and Summit The Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life.” Eucharist: “to give thanks” The Sacrament of the Eucharist completes Christian Initiation

The entire Mass, the Church’s official form of worshipping the Father Source and Summit EUCHARIST The entire Mass, the Church’s official form of worshipping the Father The consecrated Body and Blood of Christ that we receive during Communion

Other Names for the Sacrament of the Eucharist Lord’s Supper Breaking of the Bread Eucharistic Assembly Memorial Holy Sacrifice Holy and Divine Liturgy Holy Communion Mass

“My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

Understanding the Sacrament of the Eucharist Bread and wine are at the heart of the Eucharist The manna in the desert commemorated the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt. Jesus’ conversion of water to wine at the Cana wedding announced his mission.

The Institution of the Eucharist “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me . . . This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.” Jesus anticipated his own Passion and Death and interpreted them in terms of the Jewish Passover and its sacrifice. All of the Old Testament sacrifices were fulfilled and perfected in the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

The Eucharist Through the Age of the Church Sunday, when the first Christians met to “break bread” After 70 AD, Christians transferred Temple service of Scripture and prayer to the beginning of the Eucharistic meal Basic pattern of readings, homily, breaking bread and reception of the Eucharist evolved

Understanding the Sacrament of the Eucharist Aristotle’s four causes: Material Form Efficient Final

Understanding the Sacrament of the Eucharist Form: “What a thing is and what it is for are one and the same”

Understanding the Sacrament of the Eucharist Early Middle Ages (500-1000) Transition period (1000-1250) High or Late Middle Ages (1250-1450).

The Eucharist Through the Age of the Church Council of Trent established one uniform way of celebrating mass in the Western Church—Tridentine (in Latin) Sacrosanctum Concilium reformed the liturgy; mass celebrated in the vernacular Benedict XVI issued a moto proprio allowing for a wider celebration of Tridentine mass

Assignment What is science? Offer a definition. Write a precis of St. Cyril of Jerusalem’s Fourth Mystagogical Catechesis