For a biblical regeneration of our Eucharistic practice

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O'Loughlin, Thomas (2018) For a biblical regeneration of our Eucharistic practice. Japan Mission Journal, 72 (2). pp. 115-123. ISSN 1344-7297

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Abstract

The church is semper reformanda: always in need of regeneration and renewal, not only of its ideas, but more importantly of its practices in order that it can become more fully what it is called to be: the voice and active presence of the Christ in the world. In this on-going task of regeneration, our practices surrounding the Eucharist are especially significant. As Hans Küng remarked in 2002: The liturgy is and remains the centre of the life of the church. If this can be successfully renewed, won’t that also have effects on all the areas of church activity?

In this quest for renewal, the two basic realities are a renewed practice around the broken loaf and the shared cup. This might seem so obvious as not to require comment – for over half a century liturgists have been calling, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, for a move away from the use of the tabernacle during celebrations of the Eucharist and away from pre-cut individualistic wafers and for a renewal of the practice of sharing the cup. Despite this, in recent months no less an authority than Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has suggested that receiving the broken loaf in the hand is part of ‘the devil’s attack on the church,’ while many bishops seek ways to avoid extending the cup to all present at a celebration of the Eucharist and returning to an older notion of ‘the chalice is for the priest alone.’ In the light of these confusions, and the fact that many do not appreciate the changes in Catholic practice that is required by the vision of Vatican II, some notes on our eucharistic practice are in order.

Item Type:

Article

RIS ID:

https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/948778

Schools/Departments:

University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Arts > School of Humanities > Department of Theology and Religious Studies

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