Letter & Spirit, Vol. 1: Word, Worship, and the Mysteries (Letter & Spirit: A Journal of Catholic Biblical Theology) by Scott Hahn & David Scott

Author:Scott Hahn & David Scott [Hahn, Scott & Scott, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781931018272
Amazon: 1931018278
Publisher: Emmaus Road Publishing
Published: 2005-07-22T06:00:00+00:00

* * *

1 ^Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum (November 18, 1965), no. 2.

2 ^H. Urs von Balthasar, “The Word, Scripture and Tradition,” in Explorations in Theology, I: The Word Made Flesh, trans. A.V. Littledate and A. Dru (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1989), 13.

3 ^S. Marsili, “Teologia liturgica,” in Nuovo Dizionario di Liturgia, eds. D. Sartore and A. M. Triacca (Rome: Paoline, 1984), 1508-1525.

4 ^Dei Verbum, no. 2.

5 ^The Latin here uses mysterium. Doing so, the document makes use of the more ample understanding of mysterium, which in patristic usage referred first to the deepest sense of the Scriptures and thus by extension to the liturgical celebrations of baptism and Eucharist. The sacramental dimensions of this word may not have been intentional in the mind of the Council Fathers of Vatican II, but the use of the word here is fortuitous, for it allows us to extend the thought to liturgical celebrations, as would have been natural in patristic thought.

6 ^In what follows I am much indebted to a number of studies which have influenced me in a general way and which, for this reason, it will not be possible to cite specifically, except occasionally. In addition to S. Marsili and H.U. von Balthasar, cited above, I rely here on the following: Rino Fisichella and R. Latourelle, eds., Dictionary of Fundamental Theology (New York: Crossroad, 1994); Ghislain Lafont, God, Time and Being, trans. L. Maluf (Petersham: St. Bede's, 1992); J. Corbon, The Wellspring of Worship (New York: Paulist, 1988); P. McPartlan, The Eucharist Makes the Church, Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995); J. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (Crestwood: St. Vladimir's Seminary, 1985).

7 ^I am not speaking here necessarily of specific sets of texts as found in the Lectionary for the celebration of a given day, where this connection is sometimes more, sometimes less clear, as the case may be. The point is a general one about this structure in the liturgy. However, once the theological significance of this structure is grasped, as well as the sacramental (hear mystery) economy to which it is referring, profound and unexpected connections can emerge between the texts that will not appear when the texts are simply read side by side as texts.

8 ^Martin Kähler, The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic, Biblical Christ (1896; reprint, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1964), 80, n. 11.

9 ^On this expression, see the precise and compact formulation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1085.

10 ^Dei Verbum, no. 2.

11 ^Such a context, created by the proclamation of the Word, is the context for the celebration of Baptism and the Eucharist that follows, that is, in the expression of von Balthasar—the Word becoming more and more flesh. Baptism and Eucharist as celebrated at the Easter Vigil offer a separate opportunity for the kind of discussion we are conducting here. I do not pursue it at this point so as not to lose the thread of this more general discussion of Word and Eucharist.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.