The Ecumenical Christian Dialogues and The CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH by Jeffrey Gros FSC & Daniel S. Mulhall

Author:Jeffrey Gros, FSC & Daniel S. Mulhall [Gros, FSC, Jeffrey, and S. Mulhall, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL009000
Publisher: Paulist Press
Published: 2013-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

World Council Faith and Order

Editor’s Notes: After fifty years of dialogue, liturgical reform, and a return to common sources from the earliest centuries of the church, Protestants, Orthodox, Catholics, and Anglicans have reached an amazing convergence in their common understanding of the Eucharist. Through bilateral dialogue, biblical exploration, individual research, and common worship renewal a very diverse group of churches have begun to solve differences concerning such matters as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and how the one sacrifice of Christ is related to the sacrifice of the altar.

Convergence and difference, BEM in GA I:

E8. The eucharist is the sacrament of the unique sacrifice of Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for us. It is the memorial of all that God has done for the salvation of the world. What it was God’s will to accomplish in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, God does not repeat. These events are unique and can neither be repeated nor prolonged. In the memorial of the eucharist, however, the Church offers its intercession in communion with Christ, our great High Priest….

E13. The words and acts of Christ at the institution of the eucharist stand at the heart of the celebration; the eucharistic meal is the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, the sacrament of his real presence. Christ fulfills in a variety of ways his promise to be always with his own even to the end of the world. But Christ’s mode of presence in the eucharist is unique. Jesus said over the bread and wine of the eucharist: “This is my body…this is my blood.…” What Christ declared is true, and this truth is fulfilled every time the eucharist is celebrated. The Church confesses Christ’s real, living and active presence in the eucharist. While Christ’s real presence in the eucharist does not depend on the faith of the individual, all agree that to discern the body and blood of Christ, faith is required.…

[In this convergence, however, the churches are honest about issues still in need of resolution.]

Many churches believe that by the words of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine of the eucharist become, in a real though mysterious manner, the body and blood of the risen Christ, i.e., of the living Christ present in all his fullness. Under the signs of bread and wine the deepest reality is the total being of Christ who comes to us in order to feed us and transform our entire being. Some other churches, while affirming a real presence of Christ at the eucharist, do not link that presence so definitely with the signs of bread and wine. The decision remains for the churches whether this difference can be accommodated within the convergence formulated in the text itself.

E14. The Spirit makes the crucified and risen Christ really present to us in the eucharistic meal, fulfilling the promise contained in the words of institution. The presence of Christ is clearly

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.