Tuesday, March 08, 2005
I COULD BE TEMPTED TO FRAME IT…
“It” is an article at Chiesa about the theology of Cardinal Kasper. Never thought I’d see the day when I agreed with everything he said. Is hell freezing over?
The article is about the nature of the Eucharist. Cardinal Kasper, the consummate ecumenist, openly acknowledges the progressivist arm of the Body of Christ is getting some things wrong. According to the article:
in the closing homily for the annual week of prayer for Christian unity, last January 25, Kasper said some things out of keeping with his reputation as a progressivist.
He made strong references to faith in Jesus Christ as the "only savior of all humanity" – in full agreement with the declaration "Dominus Iesus" published by Ratzinger in 2000 and bitterly contested by the advocates of dialogue – and continued:
"But is this reality still clear to all of us? Do we keep it well in mind during our discussions and reflections? Or do we not rather find ourselves in a situation in which our primary task, our greatest challenge, is to remember and reemphasize this common foundation, and prevent its being rendered meaningless by the so-called 'liberal' interpretations which define themselves as progressivist but are, in reality, subversive? Precisely at this moment, when everything is becoming relative and arbitrary in postmodern society, and everyone creates his own religion à la carte, we need a solid foundation and a common point of reference that will be trustworthy for our personal life and for our ecumenical work. And what foundation could we have, except Jesus Christ? Who better than He to guide us? Who can give us more light and hope than He can? Where, except in Him, can we find the words of life (cf. Jn. 6:68)?"
This is the central difficulty with ecumenism. Christ is being reduced to just another prophet or holy man. If this is to be the outcome of ecumenism, count me among the objectors. It’s grand to read the defense of Christ’s unique position in religious history coming from one who is heavily involved in ecumenism.
But there is more…
He denounces the trend in the Church today “of celebrating the mass without an ordained priest, due to the scarcity of priests or to an erroneous interpretation of the equality of all Christians.” Kasper is quoted:
"A celebration of the eucharist without the ministry of the priest is unthinkable. The ministry of the priest is integral to the celebration of the eucharist. This is also true in cases of extreme emergency. Wherever there have been situations of extreme persecution, in which it has not been possible to have a priest for years or for decades, we have never heard of a parish community or an individual group celebrating the eucharist by their own initiative, without a priest."
One would hope that would put “paid” to feminist liturgies. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
Our feminist nuns are not going to like this statement from the Cardinal, but I do:
The homily – Kasper says with support from the New Testament – must also be reserved to the priest. In absolutely exceptional cases a layman could address a "spiritual address" to the community, but this must always be "distinguishable from the homily."
Let us hope and pray that "absolutely exceptional" doesn't go down the road "extraordinary ministers" took.
Then there are his comments about the nature of the Mass:
Kasper contests the tendency to "interpret in a simple metaphorical and purely symbolic" sense the words of the consecration:
"The words of Jesus 'This is my body' and 'This is my blood' must be understood in the real sense, and in this sacramental sense we speak of the real presence; that is, the true, real, and substantial presence of Jesus Christ under the signs of bread and wine."
The cardinal contests the obfuscation of the mass as sacrifice and its reduction to a meal at which "the celebration of the eucharist is almost indistinguishable from a banquet or a party."
Yup! Right on target again. Is there some way to spread the word around the American Catholic parishes? Many of them have gotten this message. Many of them have not.
He addresses another pet peeve of mine, neglecting the worship of God transcendent in favor of worshipping God in my pew partner which reduces the Mass to a celebration of our humanity:
"The primary meaning of the eucharistic celebration is the 'cultus divinus', the glorification, adoration, praise, and exaltation of God in remembrance of his mighty deeds. This aspect becomes all the more difficult to understand in our society, which is focused upon human needs and their satisfaction. And yet, this is where lies the true reason for the crisis of the liturgy and the widespread inability to understand it. Neither the priestly ministry not (sic) the eucharist may be derived 'from below' and from the community. A reduction of the eucharist to its anthropological meaning would be a false renovation of the Church."
Oh yes! We are not God. Our needs do not come before His.
But he doesn’t stop there. He also says:
"The mass is not a 'service' which, following the law of supplication and offering, is oriented primarily according to the needs or desires of certain groups. It is not a means to an end, but rather an end in itself. It must not become a 'happening'. It is wrong to evaluate it on the basis of its capacity to entertain. The liturgical celebration must be animated, instead, by respect for the holy God and for the presence of our Lord in the sacrament. It must be a space for silence, reflection, adoration, and personal encounter with God."
No more rainbows. I don't suppose one could hope that this would put an end to the Communion hymn, so that we would be given a measure of silence in which we can actually interact with our Lord at this most important moment when He has come to be with us. That would truly be too much to hope for.
He reaffirms that the Eucharist is not available to anyone who happens to be in the Church, but rather it must not be disconnected from the Sacrament of Confession, and from the need to be Catholic.
He cites Bonhoffer:
"Cheap grace is, for Bonhoeffer, the cause of the Church's decline. The rediscovery and renewal of the character of the assembly and of the banquet of the eucharist have undoubtedly been important, and no intelligent person thinks of undoing them. But a superficial conception of these, detached from the cross and from the sacrament of penance, leads to the banalization of these aspects and to a crisis of the eucharist such as we are witnessing in the life of the Church today."
I can only hope that Cardinal Kasper’s statements will go to the heart of those in charge in American Catholic parishes. His words quoted in this article are so vital to the health of the Catholic faith. May God grant that none of our bishops search for weasel words to get around what has been written in this article. God must come first. Otherwise we might as well be atheists.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Thanks to a reader for sending in the link.
