Darlene Starrs (Canada) 2014-08-18 Is
there really such a thing (Comments welcome here) |
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I have seen the above phrase "Eucharistic Famine" used on the Association of Catholic Priest website. It derives from a notion that without a priest to conduct daily and Sunday church service, the people in the pew, will go without Eucharist and therefore, go without an intimate experience of Christ.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The bridegroom is with us! Christ left his spirit to dwell individually and corporately, for all time, and we accept and acknowledge this reality, every Pentecost.
Vatican II theology and spirituality places the emphasis of the Eucharist with Christ dwelling among us. That is why we are called a "Eucharistic people". In addition, the scripture says, "where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them".
I suggest that we have a situation in the Universal Church, where the pre-Vatican II understanding of the Eucharist, is still influencing the post-Vatican II understanding of the Eucharist.
If we were all on the same page with the theology and spirituality of Vatican II, we would be on to creating new forms of Eucharistic celebration. These would be celebrations that were not dependent upon the present priesthood. No one would be frantically looking for married men to ordain, and women would have access to ministerial roles, previously denied.
Rest assured, we do not have Eucharistic Famine.
If there is a famine, it has to do with the reality that the leadership of the RC Church has too few true disciples of Christ. Most are politicians, therefore, the Church is stuck! How can the Universal Church grow and move forward in Christ, if our leadership are politicians and we cannot meet together on the same Vatican II pages?
Further, we need to be savouring and devouring the Word of God. If we were doing this, we would be far better counselled as to how to organize ourselves as a Church.
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