Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life - Report Example

On the Eucharist The Eucharist is not only necessary or relevant for every Christian; without it church life is impossible. All the Holy Fathers in one way or another expressed their involvement in this sacrament in their writings. In his Encyclical Letter On the Eucharist and its relationship to the Church (Ecclesia de Eucharistia) Pope John Paul II stated: “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist.” (EDE 1). According to the Letter, it concerns not only “a daily experience of faith”, but “the heart of the mystery of the Church” (ibid). In Roman Catholic Church the sacrament of priesthood developed from the Eucharist and was created first of all for it, and the priest makes the Eucharistic Sacrifice – “in persona Christi” – on behalf of Christ,” as it was taught by Vatican II in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). Belief in the power of the Eucharist in edifying of the Church existed at the very beginning of its history. It is known from the New Testament that the early church steadfastly lived by the apostles’ doctrine, communication, breaking of bread and prayer (cf. Acts 2, 42). That is, Eucharist created the foundation of the earliest Christian communities: broken bread united and strengthened her it, inflamed it with love for others. For example, Vatican II affirmed that the Eucharist until present days did not lose its communal creative power. It was proclaimed in Perfectae Caritatis (Adaptation and Renewal of Religious life) that Common life, fashioned on the model of the early Church where the body of believers was united in heart and soul (cf. Acts 4:32), and given new force by the teaching of the Gospel, the sacred liturgy and especially the Eucharist, should continue to be lived in prayer and the communion of the same spirit (PC 15). The meal, given by the Apostles to spiritually hungry people, was also the Meal of the Word of God and the Meal of Eucharistic Bread. Since ancient times celebration of the Eucharist has been combined not only with prayer, but also with reading of the Scripture and singing. Administration of the Holy Mass is related to the expression of the Fathers about the two tables, on which the Church consistently teaches believers the God’s Word and the Eucharist. According to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the priests exercise their sacred function especially in the Eucharistic worship or the celebration of the Mass by which acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming His Mystery they unite the prayers of the faithful with the sacrifice of their Head and renew and apply in the sacrifice of the Mass until the coming of the Lord (cf. Heb 9, 14-28) the only sacrifice of the New Testament namely that of Christ offering Himself once for all a spotless Victim to the Father (LG 28). The Decree on Ministry and the life priests - Presbyterorum Ordinis - contains the following words: The Most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is, Christ himself, our Pasch and Living Bread, by the action of the Holy Spirit through his very flesh vital and vitalizing, giving life to men who are thus invited and encouraged to offer themselves, their labors and all created things, together with him (PO 5). All of this requires special responsibilities for the Word of God coming from the internal orientation of the Church. Thus, according to Pope John Paul II, a sermon should be based on the correspondence between the proclaimed wisdom of God and human thought, which is in search of truth. The Meal of the Word leads to the Meal of the Eucharist. The Meal of the Eucharist, in turn, requires a special act of living faith and worship of Christ, who in Holy Communion gives himself to believers as a spiritual food. Therefore, the Pope stresses, the Church must do everything possible to save the dignity of the Eucharistic mystery and the unifying spirit of service of the Eucharistic community. In his Apostolic Letters the Holy Father John Paul II paid special attention to Eucharist. In Pastores dabo vobis a special emphasis is made on the importance of the Eucharist in the life and ministry of a priest: Indeed, the Eucharist re - presents, makes once again priest, the sacrifice of the cross, the full gift of Christ to the Church, the gift of his body given and his blood shed, as the supreme witness of the fact that he is head and shepherd, servant and spouse of the Church. Precisely because of this, the priests pastoral charity not only flows from the Eucharist but finds in the celebration of the Eucharist its highest realization - just as it is from the Eucharist that he receives the grace and obligation to give his whole life a “sacrificial” dimension (PDV 23). In this letter to priests the Pope describes the Eucharist as “the memorial of the sacrificial death of Christ and of his glorious resurrection”. He speaks of the special dimension of this “memorial” – it not only remembers, but also through the priest creates the presence of a mysterious death and resurrection of Christ: At every celebration of the Eucharist, we are spiritually brought back to the paschal Triduum: to the events of the evening of Holy Thursday, to the Last Supper and to what followed it (EDE 3). The priest realizes himself in the Lord’s words “Take and eat,” by which Christ entrusted himself to the Church at the Last Supper: Jesus did not simply state that what he was giving them to eat and drink was his body and his blood; he also expressed its sacrificial meaning and made sacramentally present his sacrifice which would soon be offered on the Cross for the salvation of all (EDE 12). In the Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia the Pope stressed that in the face of danger of sinking in the everyday vanity the priest—by means of the Eucharist—can overcome any distracting day influence, find the true center of his life and his ministry, and spiritual energy necessary for performance of pastoral duties. The doctrine of the Church, stated above, shows, that Eucharist is the heart which vivifies the Mystical Body of Christ. No wonder John Paul II stated that “the Church draws her life from the Eucharist.” This truth is the focus of the mysteries of the Church. The Eucharist, being the main and fundamental reason for the existence of the sacrament of priesthood, should be the center of priestly activity. In priest’s life everything must be subordinated to the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ. When a priest performs the sacrament of baptism, he is preparing the ground of soul for planting the Eucharistic grain. When he teaches, he opens the hearts of the adoption of the living God. When he professes, he eliminates the obstacle that stands in the way of the Eucharistic God to the human soul. Therefore, the Decree concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops said that pastors should see to it that the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the center and culmination of the whole life of the Christian community. They should labor without stint that the faithful are nourished with spiritual food through the devout and frequent reception of the Sacraments and through intelligent and active participation in the Liturgy (CD 30). The Eucharistic service requires the Eucharistic life. The Eucharist is not some definite thing, occupation or ideology. It is the life itself. After all, the Savior said: “I am the bread of eternal life. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6, 35. 54). The Eucharist is the life itself, and it inspires life, gives life, sustains it and keeps it: The Church constantly draws her life from the redeeming sacrifice; she approaches it not only through faith-filled remembrance, but also through a real contact, since this sacrifice is made present ever anew, sacramentally perpetuated, in every community which offers it at the hands of the consecrated minister (EDE 12). In the Eucharist is the very giver of life, its origin and life itself: “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11: 25-26). Therefore, for the Church the Eucharist should be “mysterium fassinosum” – “an exciting mystery”, the secret of its holiness and pastoral zeal. By his words John Paul II wanted to inspire the Church to tirelessly keep to this inexhaustible source, to take from it and give to others. The Holy Mass should be the most important part of every day. That is why the Pope said that daily celebration of the Eucharist for the priest is the call to perfection and holiness. The entire life of the Church derives from the Mystery of the Eucharist, which is the essence of the real presence of the Risen Lord in the usual bread, a presence that is set by the priest “in persona Christi” in the Church community and for the community of the Church. Every Christian believer is a member of the Church, which in turn is not only a “society of people” united by faith in Christ, not simply the sum of individuals who profess the same faith. The Church is something more. The Church is the Body of Christ; it is a living organism, the place where God and man meet, the place where they constitute a mysterious family. Therefore, the Church is both divine and human, and adherent point of these notions, or even the heart of the Church, is the sacrament of the Eucharist, without which the very existence of the Church is impossible. In order that the Church’s life is healthy and full its heart should beat in appropriate rhythm (the Eucharist), there must be correctly performed service, and in particular the liturgy and the Eucharist itself: The mystery of the Eucharist – sacrifice, presence, banquet – does not allow for reduction or exploitation; it must be experienced and lived in its integrity, both in its celebration and in the intimate converse with Jesus which takes place after receiving communion or in a prayerful moment of Eucharistic adoration apart from Mass (EDE 61). The Church service is a manifestation of the very Church itself. The old saying says: “Lex orandi, lex credenda”, that is, the norm of prayer - is the norm of faith. Simply put, the service is the way in which the Church professes and gives its faith. A man transforms his life and becomes a true Christian, not only through the study of dogmatic and moral theology but by taking part in the liturgy and the Eucharist itself. As the Pope concludes: “the Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the center of the Church’s life” (EDE 3). References ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CONSECRATED LIFE AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL. ON THE EUCHARIST IN ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHURCH. Available at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_20030417_ecclesia_eucharistia_en.html LUMEN GENTIUM DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964. Available at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html ADAPTATION AND RENEWAL OF RELIGIOUS LIFE Perfectae Caritatis. Proclaimed by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965. Available at http://www.cin.org/v2relig.html DECREE ON THE MINISTRY AND LIFE OF PRIESTS PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL VI ON DECEMBER 7, 1965. Available at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_presbyterorum-ordinis_en.html PASTORES DABO VOBIS POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY AND FAITHFUL ON THE FORMATION OF PRIESTS IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PRESENT DAY. Available at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis_en.html CHRISTUS DOMINUS DECREE CONCERNING THE PASTORAL OFFICE OF BISHOPS IN THE CHURCH PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL VI ON OCTOBER 28, 1965. Available at http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651028_christus-dominus_en.html Read More