Everything is a sacrament or
everything can be a sacrament. One
can experience anything in creation as created and sustained by the love of
God. Fr. Michael Himes profoundly explains a sacrament in his video lecture,
“Why are we a Sacramental People?” In this lecture, Himes teaches an
understanding of sacraments through two simple ideas. With the first idea Himes
links sacraments with creation--He explains that the universe was created so
that God could give God’s self to the universe, the reason there is something
rather than nothing is so that God can give God’s self to the universe and fill
it with his grace. Himes claims that the universe exists because God loves it,
and because God loves and sustains the universe, everything that exists is a
sacrament or an expression of God’s love. Second, Himes unfolds the sacramental principle- “what is
always and everywhere true must be noticed, accepted and celebrated somewhere
and sometime” (“Sacramental”). Therefore, a sacrament is a tangible and
physical expression of the love of God, and because the love of God is always
and everywhere true, it must be noticed, accepted and celebrated somewhere and
sometime.
Understanding
that anything and everything can be a sacrament has
implications on the life of a Christian that extend outside of the great seven
communal sacraments of the church. A Christian lives most of his or her life
outside of most of the great seven sacraments. For example, of the seven
sacraments of the church, only three may be recreated: the eucharist,
reconciliation and anointing of the sick. The rest of the great seven
sacraments are only re-lived through the commitment of others entering into the
sacrament for the first time. Drawing from Himes’ understanding that the love
of God must be “noticed, accepted and celebrated somewhere and sometime” allows
every Christian to give meaning to the great seven sacraments every time these
happen in our lives, and to look for meaning outside of the rituals and
liturgies that establish the sacraments. Himes sacramental principle gives the faithful a sacramental way of
viewing the world, where sacraments are not isolated events, with this
understanding they can be perceived and experienced anytime and anywhere.
Of the seven great communal
sacraments of the church, the sacrament of the eucharist is particularly
significant. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the eucharist as
“the source and summit of the Christian life” (Catechism #1324). The church
proclaims the eucharist as instituted by Christ and as the real bodily presence
of Christ—hence the immense significance of the sacrament of the eucharist (Catechism
#1374). The sacrament can be approached in many ways, but under Himes’
definition of a sacramental principle,
a sacrament is a real physical expression of God’s love, hence the eucharist
becomes the real expression of God’s love to
a community.
In the eucharist, we celebrate God’s
love and dwelling among us, which is everywhere and always true, with bread and
wine, as a community. The eucharist is the only sacrament of the seven great
sacraments of the church where many
(all the faithful) partake at once. Under Himes’ broad understanding of
sacraments and sacramentality a Christian acknowledges the eucharist first and
foremost as a communal event. Secondly, a Christian acknowledges that the
sacrament of the eucharist encourages the faithful to accept that people of
faith belong to one another—it is the acceptance that God loves us as a people. As a people of God we are
intertwined in the journey of salvation.
Lastly, by emphasizing and prioritizing community in the sacrament of the
eucharist, a Christian understands the sacrament of the eucharist as an
invitation to celebrate the relationships that result from forming a community.
Drawing from Himes’ insight, a Christian understands the sacrament of the
eucharist by noticing and acknowledging the love of God for all peoples,
accepting that he or she is not in the journey of faith alone and that his/her
salvation is intertwined with the salvation of others, and by celebrating the fruits
born of relationships that arise from belonging to the Body of Christ.
A communal understanding of the
eucharist is not different from how the early church understood the sacrament.
In his book “History of the Relationship between Eucharist and Communion,” Dr.
Nathan D. Mitchell explains that for early Christians the eucharist was an
event that centered on community. According to Mitchell, Jesus changed the
Jewish paradigm of sacrifice and replaced it with table fellowship. In a sense,
the new sacrificial act was now a communal meal (Mitchell 58). Dr. Robert A.
Ludwig, in his video lecture “Eucharist and Community,” corroborates the view
that in the early church the eucharist was centered on an inclusive meal and
the fellowship of peoples. Ludwig states that for the early Christians
eucharist meant to partake in table fellowship (“Eucharist”). In his video
lecture “The Eucharist,” Theologian Bernard Cooke maintains that the initial
celebration of the eucharist was simply a meal. The early Christians would
gather together around a meal to talk about the events around the death and
resurrection of Jesus they called this the breaking of the bread. Sometime
later in history, the meal which people shared in community becomes an altar
with a bishop presiding over it to signify explicitly the death and
resurrection of Christ (“The Eucharist”). The eucharist became an inclusive
meal that broke cultural, religious and ethnic boundaries. With this
understanding of eucharist it is hard to imagine a community that would partake
in such a close and intimate meal without forming a close and loving community.
This understanding of eucharist
places real demands on the life of a Christian. Far more than just going to
mass and participating in the eucharist—the meaning of eucharist truly lies in the
nature of our relationships. As Mitchell states, “communion can happen apart
from eucharist, but eucharist can’t happen apart from communion” (Mitchell 63).
For a Christian, communion with God is contingent on communion with the Church
community (Didache Bible, Mt. 5:23).
In his article, “Good Liturgy: The
Assembly,” Robert D. Duggan addresses a challenge that many parishes face when
it comes to understanding and celebrating the eucharist. Duggan explores a
problem that many churches still face today with “the disenfranchisement of the
laity in the celebration of the eucharist.” This exclusion of laity from the
liturgy of the eucharist is mainly due to the
emphasis that is placed on the rite of consecration itself and how it is performed.
Mitchell addresses this challenge in his article by explaining the shift of
emphasis that occurred in the seventh century, wherein the presiders and the
way the ritual was performed became synonymous with the sanctity of the
sacrament itself (Mitchell 62). Today, despite the reformations of Vatican II,
the faithful are still subjugated to this understanding and practice of
eucharist.
I do not work out of parish, but if
I was leading a group in preparation
for the sacrament of the eucharist I would address Duggan’s concern for the
“disenfranchisement of the laity” in the celebration and participation of the
eucharist, and I would seek to share my own understanding of the sacrament that
results from scripture and the early church’s understanding of the eucharist.
If the sacrament of the eucharist is understood as the acknowledgement of the
love of God for us as a people, the acceptance that we belong to one another as
people of faith, and the celebration of the relationships stemming from of a
communal belonging to the Body of Christ, then the Rite of Christian Initiation
of Adults (R.C.I.A) preparation for the sacrament of eucharitst must address
this understanding.
I would begin by choosing to use the
name of ‘holy communion’ rather than ‘eucharist’ when referring to the
sacrament. By ceasing to refer to the sacrament as eucharist, a term that is
mostly misunderstood, the emphasis shifts to an understanding of community and
togetherness. The sacrament is already known as holy communion, but this term is
rarely used. For a group of Christians getting ready to receive the sacrament,
the term holy communion will facilitate themes that surround community and
spark the imagination and curiosity of how the sacrament itself is linked to
the understanding of communion. I believe that participants would associate
eucharist with holy communion by the repetitive usage of the term.
In the preparation for the
sacrament, my first step will involve guiding participants to understand the
sacrament of eucharist as eucharist-as-communion
with a purposeful pedagogy (teaching and learning). The theme of eucharist as
communion will be explored through metaphors, symbols and imageries using
sacred scriptures and other theology sources. In the journey preparing to the
sacrament, there will be regular communal activities and group-sharing around
the theme of eucharist-as-communion. In order to accomplish this, I will engage
participants with one another, where my role becomes that of a facilitator
rather than an instructor. Examples include: Exploring scripture which
addresses the eucharist with the understanding of communion. Some passages
include: The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35) The
Washing of the Feet (John 13: 1-17) The Example of Communal Living in the early
church, (Acts 2:42-46), Paul’s instructions to the communal meal of the
eucharist in (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) and other bible passages that highlight
the communion aspect of the eucharistic meal as well as exploring broader
theology sources that addresses eucharist as communion.
The second step will address the prayerful
journey of preparation. This phase will encourage participants to look for
sacramental communal signs of the love of God. The challenge will be for the
group to identify themselves as a people loved by God who are encountering God
together, as opposed to single individuals who happen to be in a group ready to
receive the sacrament. I will encourage the group to accept that they belong to
one another, as people of faith. This echoes Mitchell’s “communion can happen
apart from eucharist, but eucharist can’t happen apart from communion”
(Mitchell 63). Examples include: sharing intimate and personal joys and
struggles and finding common ground in these experiences, reciting the Liturgy
of the Hours, cooking and sharing a meal together, meditating with lectio
divina, making a trip to encounter nature as group; singing hymns or songs as a
group, and other methods that encourage a community to enter into communal
prayer.
The final step in the preparation of
a group for the sacrament of holy communion will entail directly addressing the
challenge of the “disenfranchisement of the laity” in the participation of the
eucharist. It is a challenge to think and experience the sacrament as, of and
for a community if the liturgy excludes
the community that celebrates it. In the R.C.I.A preparation group, I would aim
to move away from the understanding that the celebration of sacraments is
something performed only by the presider. Duggan suggests that in order for the
assembly to feel as true members of the church, the structure and governance of
the church must change so that an “ecclesiology of belonging” is incorporated.
This mirrors a Vatican II approach to church and to sacraments. Sacrosanctum Concilium states “that all
faithful should be led to take that full, conscious and active part in the
liturgical celebrations,” (SC #14) meaning that from the liturgy to governance,
the laity is called to participate fully. I will share this news and encourage
the participants to fully participate in the liturgy. Examples include: the
discernment of personal gifts to be shared with the broader community, the
discernment of vocations as our first communities, the invitation to
participate in the liturgy as lectors, altar servers, hospitality ministry,
cantors and/or music ministry or any other ministries needed in the parish.
I return
to my opening statement: Everything can be a sacrament if it reminds us of the
overflowing and everlasting love of God. A Christian is to live his or her life
in a way that honors everything created—since everything has been embedded with
grace. With this understanding, the church elevates seven communal sacraments
to help the faithful understand their vocation and the journey of salvation.
And of these seven, it is holy communion that allows us to notice, accept and
celebrate the love of God together—as a people. If the sacrament of the
eucharist is understood as the acknowledgement of the love of God for us as a people,
the acceptance that we belong to one another as people of faith because the
journey of salvation intertwines us together, and the celebration of the
relationships stemming from of a communal belonging to the Body of Christ—then
truly God is among us when we break the bread and raise the cup.
