TO THE EDITOR:
Father Kiley's article 'Discussion, division and disagreement over the Eucharist' among Catholics reveals to me a man stuck in the 70s.
I replied to his theory of the "restoration" of the tabernacle to central church position and to his personal devotion to the "reserved Eucharist" in a letter to the editor of Dec. 26, 2002. Still the old "traditionalist" drum beat goes on: progressive against traditionalists; the risen Christ versus the crucified Christ; Mass facing the people versus "mass against the back wall;" use of the vernacular in contrast to Latin; silence before Mass instead of "communitarian greetings;" the celebrant as priest against the celebrant as presider; Mass as a sacrifice against Mass as a banquet; the consecrated bread as a symbol versus that of a sacrament; the Lord's supper as a commemorative meal instead of a sacrificial banquet; Protestant understanding versus Catholic understanding of the Eucharist.
Beginners in theology know that unless the consecrated bread is a symbol, you cannot have a sacrament; that unless there is a holy Anamnesis or Remembrance, there can be no sacrificial offering; that unless Christ is risen, he cannot be present in his sacrificial offering of himself; that unless Christ is present in the community, the proclaimed Word and the priest, there can be no Real Presence.
What Father Kiley refers to the "full if startling meaning of the Eucharist" in John's Gospel, that "my flesh is real food and my blood real drink," has nothing to do with the Bread that has come down from heaven for the life of the world, the feeding of God's people; it has to do with "take and eat" and be taken in to submission to God's will.
Since my retirement in 1997, I have been active in over seven parishes both here and in Florida. I have seen nothing from the people or priests about "Discussion, division and disagreement over the Eucharist." Instead I have seen great reverence and hunger for the Eucharist and active participation in its offering. I am also aware that from our ecumenical dialogues with Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Disciples of Christ, there is no longer significant differences between Protestant and Catholic understanding of the Eucharist as sacrificial banquet or the Eucharist as Real Presence. In fact, Lutherans accept all the implications of our theory of transubstantiation. The real problem is not squabbling among Catholic or Protestants, but the preaching and living of the Gospel, the evangelization of our confused world.
Rev. Robert Randall
Pastor emeritus, St. Sebastian Church, Providence
