THCT202 MODULE 5: CELEBRATING THE EUCHARIST Introduction Sacrament of Eucharist - General Introduction Scriptural Foundations of the Eucharist Exploring Eucharist as 'Meal' and 'Communion' Celebrating the Eucharistic Liturgy Video Activities Conclusion
MODULE 5: CELEBRATING THE EUCHARIST The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church s life. 1 In its celebration Christians enter into the Paschal Mystery, recalling the words and actions of Jesus, offering a sacrifice of praise to the Father, and becoming holy through the power of the Holy Spirit. This central sacrament of the Church s life is an action of Christ the Priest and of his Body which is the Church and is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its effectiveness by the same title and to the same degree. 2 Module 5 3 of THCT202 runs over three weeks, and investigates the sacrament of the Eucharist by introducing its scriptural origins, exploring its theological meanings and studying the way in which it is celebrated by the Church. Because the Eucharist is the most frequently celebrated of all of the sacraments, it is important to understand what it celebrates, why it is celebrated, how it is celebrated, where it is celebrated and how to prepare Eucharistic celebrations. This module will examine all of these aspects of the Eucharist through select readings, videos and targeted activities. READINGS AND ACTIVITIES In Module 5 you will find links to: five required readings with activities four video resources with activities Completing the required readings and their related activities will enhance your understanding of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and will supplement and expand on the materials presented to you in lectures. The key concepts introduced in these Required Readings will be referenced in all of your Assessment Tasks for THCT202. LEARNING OUTCOMES This module will focus on the following learning outcomes: Reflect critically on the theological, biblical and ecclesial meanings of the sacraments of initiation and reconciliation (GA4); Prepare sacramental celebrations utilising the Church s official liturgical books, and explain their theological meaning (GA7, GA9); Identify and explain the theological meaning of the central symbols employed in the Church s sacramental rituals (GA4,GA9). 1 SC#7, ibid., p.11. 2 Catholic Church, Sacrosanctum Concilium: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #10, The Liturgy Documents: A Parish Resource (Chicago: LTP, 1991), 11. 3 This module and its learning activities have been authored by Clare V. Johnson.
5.1 SACRAMENT OF EUCHARIST - GENERAL INTRODUCTION The Eucharist is the central ritual of Christianity. It is celebrated by different Christian denominations in varying ways. In order to appreciate the significance of the Christian Eucharist, it is important to understand its origins and theological development. In Rituals of Prayer, Worship and the Eucharist, Cooke and Macy offer a general introduction to understanding the different components of the Christian ritual of celebrating the Eucharist as it was enacted in the early Church, and explain that the same basic shape of the Eucharist from the first centuries of Christianity is still what Christians enact today. Cooke and Macy refer to the Jewish origins of the Christian prayers and ritual elements of the Eucharist, and explain how these original practices were adapted once Christianity moved into the Greco-Roman world with the spread of the faith beyond the Holy Land. Cooke and Macy also explore the question of how the presence of Christ can be described as real and what explanations have been advanced by different groups to explain this presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. The reading also investigates the question of who can legitimately lead the community in its ritual prayer and why different Christian denominations have different rules in this area of their practice. The chapter concludes by outlining five hallmarks of all Christian rituals. 5.1.1 ANALYSE AND EXPLAIN RITUAL SIGNIFICANCE To analyse and explain the key concepts and symbolic understandings surround the Sacrament of Eucharist. Cooke, Bernard and Gary Macy. Rituals of Prayer, Worship and the Eucharist. Christian Symbol and Ritual: An Introduction. New York: Oxford, 2005, 87-107. As you read this text, watch out for answers to the following questions: 1. How do Cooke and Macy justify the exclusion of some people from receiving the Eucharist even from the earliest days of the Christian community? How do they explain excommunication? 2. Cooke and Macy summarise the meaning of transubstantiation in their discussion of real presence. Explain what transubstantiation is in your own words, and note the approaches put forward by the different reformation theologians to explain the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. What sets the Catholic understanding apart from the reformation understandings? 3. The chapter concludes by outlining five hallmarks of all Christian rituals. List the five elements and provide an example of how they are realized in the Catholic Eucharistic ritual.
5.2 SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE EUCHARIST In studying the sacrament of the Eucharist scholars begin with the New Testament accounts of the Last Supper, as well as investigating other scriptural narratives involving Jesus interaction, teaching and behaviour in meal-settings. THE PASSOVER OF JESUS When Jesus took bread and wine at the Last Supper, a Passover meal in three of the four Gospel accounts (Mark, Matthew and Luke) these elements and this context already had some meaning, both for Jesus himself and for those around him. The bread used in the Passover meal recalled the events of the Exodus, the escape of the Israelites from slavery and death in Egypt into the Promised Land and freedom. This multivalent symbol was what Jesus chose to employ at the Last Supper to make a different point. The bread that Jesus took in his hands at the Last Supper he identified with himself and what was about to occur the following day in his death and resurrection. The bread of the Exodus was now to represent his body given for us, that which would serve as the means via which freedom from the slavery and death of sin would be effected, and via which the possibility of entry into eternal life would be made possible. THE LAST SUPPER AS A JEWISH MEMORIAL MEAL The New Testament includes four separate accounts of the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples (Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians). This text is known as the Institution Narrative the story of how Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and is a central part of all Eucharistic Prayers within the Catholic Mass. 4 All of the NT accounts agree that the Last Supper was held on the night before Jesus was executed, which for the Synoptics, was the first evening of the Passover feast, while the lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple. There is some scholarly debate as to whether this was the night of the Passover or not, because in John s account the supper is held on the previous night such that Jesus is executed at the time the Passover lambs are sacrificed. The four accounts of the institution are separated into two groups or types, Matthew/Mark and Luke/Paul, according to their agreements or differences with one another. Liturgical scholar Fr. John Baldovin, SJ explains the origins of the Eucharist in the New Testament in this reading, and notes some of the differences between the accounts of the Last Supper in the New Testament. 5.2.1 ANALYSE AND COMPARE NARRATIVES To examine the origins of the Eucharist in scripture and compare the different narratives that form the foundation of the Sacrament. Baldovin, John. The Eucharist in the New Testament. Bread of Life, Cup of Salvation: Understanding the Mass. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003, 12-33. As you are reading, consider the following key questions: 1. How does the Jewish Berakah prayer relate to the Christian Eucharistic Prayer? What does this relationship
tell us about the actions and words of Jesus at the Last Supper and what we do in the Eucharist today? 2. When you compare the Matthew/Mark accounts of the Last Supper with the Luke/Paul (1 Cor) accounts, what differences do you notice? According to Baldovin, what is the most likely explanation for the differences between the NT accounts of the Last Supper? 3. In the New Testament, Jesus uses meals to serve many different purposes and make many different points to his disciples. What do we learn about Jesus and the kingdom of God through his behaviour at the meals (other than the Last Supper) recorded in the NT? What does this information teach us about the celebration of the Eucharist? 4 There is an exception to the rule that all Eucharistic Prayers by nature must contain an Institution Narrative. The Anaphora (another term for Eucharistic Prayer) of Addai and Mari from the Assyrian Church of the East lacks an Institution Narrative, and yet is still considered to be an authentic and sacramentally legitimate Eucharistic Prayer. For more details see the Vatican web site.
5.3 EXPLORING EUCHARIST AS 'MEAL' AND 'COMMUNION' A variety of different approaches to understanding the Eucharist is required in order to explore its complexity. Theologian Kevin Irwin uses the image of a mosaic to describe how to approach study of the Eucharist, explaining that no one color or shape of one kind of glass makes up a mosaic. It takes the juxtaposition of each and every piece to make a work of art The same is true for sacramental theology derived from the liturgy it is multivalent. It contains and reflects a number of mutually enriching meanings. 5 So when we study the Eucharist, there are a number of different ways to approach it which emphasise different aspects of it, such as studying the Eucharist as a meal, as a sacrifice, and as common-union or communion. EUCHARIST AS MEAL The most basic way of understanding the Eucharist is to study it as a meal. The Eucharist is a ritual meal in which Christians consume consecrated bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ, and in so doing, commune with Christ, receiving him physically into our bodies under the forms of bread and wine in order that we may become what it is that we consume: the Body of Christ in the world. In this sacrament, Christians are fed with spiritual food for life s journey in order that we might undertake our mission of spreading the Gospel in the world. 5.3.1 SUMMARISE AND ANALYSE SYMBOLS To enhance your understanding of why the meal is such an appropriate ritual form to serve as the central Christian celebration. O Loughlin, Frank. A Meal. The Eucharist: Doing What Jesus Did. Strathfield NSW: St. Pauls, 1997, 79-108. Available on reserve at the campus library. In this reading, Australian priest-liturgist Fr. Frank O Loughlin explores the Eucharist as a meal. Before you read this reading, prepare 2 columns on a sheet of paper or in electronic form: title Column 1: Meals in general and title Column 2: Eucharist. As you read O Loughlin s chapter, note each characteristic of meals in general in column 1 and in column 2, explain how this meal-characteristic informs our understanding of the meaning of Eucharist. Ensure that you note the different symbols (bread, wine) and ritual actions (blessing, breaking of bread) used in Jewish meals and how they influence the development and meaning of the Christian Eucharist. Complete the comparison between the ritual form of meal and the Eucharist as you are reading. 5.3.2 REFLECT CRITICALLY To explore the symbolic meaning of the "meal" and how it can help us to understand our relationship with God
through the Eucharist. Video link: YouTube As you watch this video, consider the following questions: 1. What are the key scriptural meals Barron identifies to help to explain why the meal is such an appropriate ritual form to represent our relationship with God? 2. What are the characteristics of Jesus open table-fellowship in the New Testament? What does Jesus meal behavior reveal about our relationship with God and what the Kingdom of God is like? EUCHARIST AS COMMUNION One of the primary ways to understand the Eucharist is via the notion of communion. At its most obvious level, communion is a description of what happens when the faithful receive the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist as Communion and take into themselves the Body and Blood of Christ so that they can become what they eat and drink in the sacrament of the Eucharist. But there are also other ways in which communion is achieved among those participating in the celebration of the Eucharist. Bernard Cooke investigates the different facets of Eucharist as Communion in the next reading. As you read this reading, focus on the following questions as these will help you to process and summarise the reading s contents and understand different ways in which our celebration of the Eucharist effects communion. 5.3.3 SUMMARISE AND EXPLAIN To understand the different ways in which our celebration of the Eucharist effects communion. Cooke, Bernard. Eucharist as Communion. Sacraments and Sacramentality. Mystic: Twenty-Third, 1994, 94-107. As you read this reading, focus on the following questions: 1. What does Cooke identify as the characteristics of presence in general? In what ways is Christ present in the Eucharistic community? 2. Summarise in your own words the explanation Cooke provides for the process of transubstantiation which occurs in the consecration of the Eucharist. 3. Beyond the faithful receiving the Body and Blood of Christ as Communion, what are the 4 other ways in which communion occurs in the celebration of the Eucharist? 4. Why are people the most important symbolic element in any celebration of the Eucharist?
5 Kevin W. Irwin, Models of the Eucharist (New York: Paulist, 2005), 33.
5.4 CELEBRATING THE EUCHARISTIC LITURGY The Mass or the celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy is made up of two major sections with an introduction and a conclusion: Introductory Rites Entrance Procession [antiphon] Greeting Penitential Act Kyrie Gloria in excelsis Opening Collect Liturgy of the Word First Reading Responsorial Psalm [gradual] Second Reading Gospel Acclamation [Alleluia; alters during Lent] Gospel Homily Creed The Universal Prayer or Prayers of the Faithful (Collection) Liturgy of the Eucharist Preparation of the Gifts (including the Offertory Procession) Prayer over the Offerings Eucharistic Prayer Dialogue Preface Sanctus Epiclesis, Institution Narrative, Consecration Mystery of Faith/Memorial Acclamation Anamnesis, Oblation, Intercessions, Doxology Great Amen Communion Rite The Lord s Prayer The Rite of Peace The Fraction Rite (including the Agnus Dei) Communion Prayer after Communion Brief Announcements Concluding Rites
Greeting Blessing Dismissal (Recessional hymn - optional) In order to understand how to prepare to celebrate the Eucharist, it is important to appreciate the purpose of each element of the Eucharistic liturgy. In the next reading, John D. Laurence lists and explains the various components of the part of the Mass known as the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Missal (in Latin: Missale Romanum, which also used to be called the Sacramentary) is the book used by the priest to preside at the Mass. Laurence references the General Instruction of the Roman Missal ( GIRM) to explain what the Church s official expectations are for how the Mass is to be celebrated. For those who are preparing celebrations of the Eucharist, having an understanding of how the Church expects the Mass to be celebrated is essential. 5.4.1 IDENTIFY AND SUMMARISE RITUAL ACTIONS To examine the theological meaning surrounding each element of the Eucharistic liturgy and understand the Church's expectations. Laurance, John D. The Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Sacrament of the Eucharist. Lex Orandi Series. Ed. John D. Laurance. Collegeville: Liturgical, 2012, 150-187. As you read this text: write a brief summary of what occurs during each of the ritual moments comprising the Liturgy of the Eucharist identify what theological meaning is attached to the ritual actions completed by the priest-presider and the assembly.
VIDEO ACTIVITIES HOW TO SET UP FOR MASS Understanding how to set up the church or worship-space for the celebration of Mass is a very useful skill to have for anyone involved in preparing Eucharistic liturgies in school or parish settings. This video has been specially produced to teach you the practicalities of preparing for the celebration of the Eucharist. It will introduce you to the different items which must be arranged for use in the celebration, where they must be located in the church, and why particular reverence is to be shown to certain parts of the church both during the setting-up process and during the liturgy of the Eucharist itself. 5.4.2 ASCERTAIN SYMBOLIC MEANING To learn how to practically set up a worship space and understand the symbolism of the Eucharist celebration. Video link: YouTube Watch this video now, and as you watch, keep an eye out for the following: 1. What must be placed on the altar for the celebration of the Eucharist? List the items. 2. What items are to be placed on the credence table ahead of the celebration? What is the purificator used for? 3. What is the Lectionary? How does the Ordo relate to the Lectionary when setting up for Mass? 4. What does the water that is mixed with the wine before the consecration symbolize? 5. When are purple vestments worn during the Liturgical Year? What do they symbolize?
THE PLACE FOR EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION The liturgical space where the Sacraments are celebrated is filled with symbols, images and furnishings deliberately arranged in a particular and meaningful order. Understanding the theological meaning of that order and learning what is unique about the different sections of a liturgical space can greatly enhance the worshipping experience. The video: God at the Centre: Liturgical Spaces in the Chapels of ACU has been specially produced in ACU s liturgical spaces to teach you about the various aspects of the chapels in which we celebrate our liturgies and to explain why certain areas of our liturgical spaces are considered to be sacred. 5.4.3 CONSIDER LITURGICAL SPACES To understand the purpose of the physical spaces used in the Eucharist ritual and identify their specific meaning and sacredness. Video link: YouTube Watch this video now, and listen for answers to the following questions: Why is the altar venerated? What does it represent in a church/chapel? What is represented by the sanctuary lamp? What purpose does the tabernacle serve? What does the stoop serve as a reminder of in a chapel? What is the name of the part of the church/chapel which is reserved for the clergy?
EXPLORING THE STRUCTURE OF THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER The Eucharistic Prayer is the high point of the celebration of the Mass. In the Eucharistic Prayer, the Church gathered in Christ s presence, does what Jesus did at the Last Supper, taking bread and wine, pronouncing prayers of blessing over them, and distributing the consecrated gifts to community. Through the Eucharistic Prayer the Church offers to God a prayer of praise and thanksgiving and is gifted by God with the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ for our sanctification (so that we might become holy in the presence of God as we take God into our bodies in Communion). The Church teaches that the meaning of this Prayer is that the whole congregation of the faithful joins with Christ in confessing the great deeds of God and in the offering of Sacrifice. 6 The Eucharistic prayer is made up of 11 elements, which can sometimes appear in a slightly different order from what listed is below, depending on which of the 10 Eucharistic Prayers 7 of the Roman Missal is prayed: Preface Dialogue Preface Acclamation (Sanctus) Epiclesis Institution Narrative Mystery of Faith (Memorial Acclamation) Anamnesis Oblation Intercessions Concluding Doxology Great Amen 5.4.4 IDENTIFY KEY ELEMENTS To identify the various different parts of the Eucharistic Prayer and understand the definition of each part. Video link: YouTube As you watch this video, make a list of each of the parts of the Eucharistic Prayer she describes and how to define it, as this will help you to understand what it is and remember its purpose within the prayer overall. 6 Catholic Church, "General Instruction of the Roman Missal," #78, The Roman Missal (London: Catholic Truth Society/Strathfield: St. Pauls, 2011), p. 49. 7 The Roman Missal includes Eucharistic Prayers I, II, III, IV; Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation I and II, Eucharistic Prayers for Various Needs I, II, III, IV. The Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children I, II and III can also be used when the majority of the assembly is comprised of children under the age of 10 years, but these do not appear in the Roman Missal, rather they are published in a separate book.
5.5 CONCLUSION Module 5 has explored the Sacrament of the Eucharist, investigating its scriptural origins, exploring its theological meanings and studying the way in which it is celebrated by the Church. Understanding the biblical background, historical development, and major theological aspects of the Eucharist is essential for appreciating the vital importance of the source and summit of the Christian life. This module has provided opportunities for you to learn how to set up for Mass and understand the different features of the place in which the Eucharist is celebrated which are essential skills for anyone charged with the responsibility of preparing and celebrating Eucharistic liturgies. Module 6 will focus on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is also known as the Sacrament of Penance. This healing sacrament offers a way for Christians to consider their behaviour toward God and toward other people, and to make amends for when our actions, attitudes or omissions have led to breaches of our relationships with God, with other people and with the world. CHECK YOUR PROGRESS When you have completed the Required Reading and activities for Module 5, you will be ready to undertake the Short Quiz which will provide an opportunity for you to check on your learning progress in Module 5, and prepare you for completing your Assessment Tasks for THCT202. Now return to Module 5 of THCT202 in LEO to complete the short quiz.