The Eucharist - Fr Barry Naylor Healing - Fr Barry Naylor |
This is the title of a teaching document produced in April 2000 by the House of Bishops of the Church of England. it is not often our Bishops produce such a document so it merits our attention and response.
This document was produced at the request of the Roman Catholic Bishops in England and Wales in response to their own teaching document, “One Bread, One Body” (CTS 1998). our Bishops affirm that “Anglicans and Roman Catholics can share a common eucharistic faith”. Our two Archbishops, George Carey and David Hope, affirm in their introduction, that, “The Eucharist stands at the very heart of the life, worship and mission of the Church.” In the main body of the document we read that: “Anglicans treasure the Eucharist as the central moment of their devotion and worship.” The Bishops state that the “Eucharist undergirds the whole mission of the church. It unites Creation and Redemption, life and liturgy, porch and altar. It galvanizes Christians for witness and service in the world and strengthens us to go forth for Christ and win others for his cause - - - - - the Eucharist is often called the Sacrament of Unity; it is equally the Sacrament of Mission.” The document affirms the Anglican belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist this is “clearly taught” they say, “in the Church of England’s eucharistic theology - - - but our divines have consistently been loath to speculate as to the mode of the presence and have been content to reverence the mystery.” They refer to the Porvoo Statement, which affirms that “the body and blood of Christ are truly present, distributed and received under the forms of bread and wine.” The Bishops also elucidate our teaching that the Eucharist is a sacrifice making present at the Altar, at every celebration, the one unique sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The quote the document Saepius Officio, issued by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 1896, which affirms that in the Eucharist “we plead and represent before the Father the sacrifice of the cross” - - - - - “ he unites us with himself in his perfect offering to the Father”. This understanding is also to be found in the Porvoo Statement: “The eucharistic memorial is no mere calling to mind of a past event but the Church’s effectual proclamation of God’s mighty acts.” One major difference our Bishops have with the Roman Catholics is on the question of sharing holy communion between the members of our churches. Our Bishops strongly emphasise the close link there should be because of our common understanding of Baptism. They argue that if both churches agree that Baptism is the way by which we become members of the Church and that, through Baptism, we are “One in Christ”, this unity should be further expressed by members of both churches being allowed to receive holy communion when attending each other’s eucharistic celebrations. “It seems vital to us to maintain the coherence and symmetry between the communion created by Baptism and the communion expressed through the Eucharist.” “The Eucharist is one of God’s greatest gifts to the Church and is given to build up the Body of Christ. - - - - - - We endorse the ecumenical insight that Christ builds up his body as a eucharistic community.” To respond faithfully to the teaching of the Church of England, summarised in this document from our House of Bishops, every Anglican community must do all it can to ensure the celebrations of this great gift of God to the Church are at the very heart of our worship and are worthy, attractive and accessible to all. The Eucharist quotations from various 20th century sources, Catholic and Reformed Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches Lima Document (1982) Christian faith is deepened by the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Hence the Eucharist should be celebrated frequently. As the eucharist celebrates the resurrection of Christ it is appropriate that it should take place at least every Sunday. As it is the new sacramental meal of the people of God every Christian should be encouraged to receive Holy Communion frequently Methodist Worship Book (1999) Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is the central act of Christian Worship, in which the church responds to our Lord’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25). One of the keynotes of the Methodist Revival was John Wesley’s emphasis on “The Duty of Constant Communion The Use of Praying Neville Ward ( a Methodist Minister) (1967) The central and representative act of Christian prayer is known by five names, the Breaking of Bread, the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Communion, the Mass, the Eucharist. - - The most satisfactory of the five is the word “Eucharist”. For most Christians today (1967) the Eucharist, the Thanksgiving, is the main act of corporate prayer Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission Eucharistic Doctrine (reflecting much that was in the Pastoral Letter of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York of 1897) The Church is most fully and visibly itself when it gathers for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is much more than a service in which we are led in prayer, hear the Word of God and receive Holy Communion - - - the celebration of the Eucharist makes sacramentally present the whole mystery of salvation this once-for-all event of salvation becomes effectively present for us through the power of the Holy Spirit every time the Eucharist is celebrated. In the Eucharist we become one body with Christ in his sacrificial giving of himself to the Father Before the eucharistic prayer, to the question, “What is that?”, the believer answers: “it is bread.”. After the eucharistic prayer, to the same question he answers: “It is truly the body of Christ, the Bread of Life.” Our Faith Basic Christian Belief Max Thurian ( a Taize Monk) (1978) The Eucharist is the cross present in the Church, extending to all humanity in space and time, the unique and perfect work of Christ. Christians make present and actual in the Eucharistic meal the redemption of the people of God accomplished once and for all on the cross. In the life of a local community, it is supremely by the Eucharist that the Church is built, shaped and deepened in love. The Gospel and the Catholic Church - Archbishop Michael Ramsey (1936) The Church’s life is gathered around the Eucharist since it is not only the most important of a series of rites, but the divine act into which all prayers and praises are drawn The divine office and all other Christian services are links between one Eucharist and the next - - - - - . The Christian Prays Archbishop Michael Ramsey (1981) The Eucharist is the supreme confrontation between God and his redeemed people, through the recalling of the death of Jesus. Here the people feed upon Jesus, who died and rose again, and offer themselves in union with his own perfect sacrifice. True God The Reverend Ken Leech (1985) Christian spirituality is of a eucharistic type that is, it comes to see and know and even digest God within the framework of the liturgy of eating and drinking. It has thus the marks of an active and social experience, not those of a passive and private one. It is clear from the earliest times that the celebration of the Eucharist was at the centre of the life of the Christian community. Spirituality and Liberation ( in Companion Encyclopedia of Theology 1995) Ken Leech The recovery of the centrality of the Eucharist has brought about a profound revolution in most Christian traditions as the Church has come to see itself as a liturgical community. It has been argued that this growing “eucharistic sensibility” has been the most important event in the recent renewal of spirituality (Pannenberg 1986) and has led to a spirituality which is more materialistic and socially aware. Thomas Cranmer Diarmaid MacCulloch (1996) - - diriges and requiems were gone, and with them the power of the Mass. One major consequence of this was unintended by the reformers, and one can see them in the 1552 book beginning to cope with the unpleasant surprise. Cranmer and his colleagues had intended their communion service to be the centre-piece of the regular weekly worship of the Church but this was not happening. The fierce exhortations to self examination - - - - and the churchwardens’ horror at the expense of providing bread and wine for an entire parish Sunday by Sunday combined to frustrate Cranmer’s intentions. A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship article on Eucharist Paul Bradshaw (1986) The Liturgical Movement in the twentieth century has tried to restore the eucharist to the place which it had in early Christian practice, as the central service of the Church every Sunday, and as a corporate celebration by the congregation rather than merely an opportunity for individuals to receive Holy Communion. Signs of Glory Richard Holloway, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church (1982) The Eucharist is the continuous miracle by which we are brought into the reality of the Incarnation and Resurrection. In the Eucharist we are knit slowly into the mystical life of Christ. The Eucharist is the way we grow into Christ. Two consequences follow from this. It points first of all to the absolute centrality of the Eucharist in the Christian tradition so successful has been the liturgical movement in the Church that it has established the Eucharist at the centre of parish worship almost everywhere. Be Thankful Bishop Wallace Benn -Church Society The communion service is the central rite of the Christian Church. Communion demonstrates our unity and helps to cement it. We approach God together. We confess our sins together. We celebrate his love together. Philosophy and Theology of the Ordained Ministry Barry Naylor (1996) The celebration of the Holy Eucharist is at the heart of my own theology of ministry which is a living out of what happens at the Altar. The above was compiled by Barry Naylor barry.naylor@stedmundsbury.anglican.org |