HomeArchives2016A patient and critical hope: the 51st International Eucharistic Congress

A patient and critical hope: the 51st International Eucharistic Congress

Fr. Andrew Recepcion, from a missiologist’s point of view, gives his impression after attending the International Eucharistic Theological Symposium and Congress in Cebu City from January 22-31, 2015.

What are your impressions of the International Eucharistic Congress Theological Symposium as you participated on it from January 21- 23? 

First of all, I was struck by the fact that many laymen and women came for the theological symposium. What was striking was their great interest about understanding the faith. Second, people were actually prepared to later appreciate the 51st International Eucharistic Congress, for the different dimensions of the Eucharist were discussed or presented during the symposium. For example, on the first day we spoke about hope, especially about Christ, our hope of glory. A reaction to Oxford-based theologian Timothy Radcliffe’s input captured in a nutshell the two kinds of hope: patient hope and critical hope.

Many Filipinos are familiar with patient hope. We wait for the right time for God to answer our prayers, and for him to grant us the grace to overcome our weaknesses. This disposition becomes part of that patient hope. Yet there is the second and equally important kind of hope: critical hope which, in the context of social justice, means that we don’t just have to wait for things to change, for example, about corruption in the government. We just don’t wait for the present administration, or for the next one to change what is wrong in society.

This hope covers the choice of candidates we are going to vote into public office. Radcliffe also spoke about the situation in Syria where Christians are being massacred. Critical hope means that I have to do something about this! I hope in God but that hope is also manifested in the way I choose those means to achieve whatever I am hoping for.

What were the highlights of this international event? 

Another significant reflection is the need to better appreciate how the Eucharist is the source and the summit of Christian life, as Vatican II affirmed. To explain this concept of the Eucharist as the source and the summit of Christian life, three elements of the Eucharist were constantly underlined.

First, the Eucharist is a meal. It is a fellowship that shows the inclusiveness of the Eucharist, for whether one is poor or rich; he can participate in the Eucharist. He doesn’t have to be very important in the community to celebrate the Eucharist. Even if one were among the poorest, the lowest, or the least; the Eucharist is for all.

It is an all-embracing mystery of the Church where everyone in God’s family is welcome. The consequence of this is a conversion and movement towards becoming inclusive communities, not excluding people from this table of fellowship, from this meal. This means including migrants, the poor, the outcast and the marginalized.

Second, the Eucharist is a sacrifice. It means that Christ offers himself for all humankind and for our salvation. Jesus offered himself as a sacrificial offering for our salvation by being the victim, the altar, and the priest (cf. Letter to Hebrews). The blood that usually comes out from the animal sacrificed symbolizes the freshness of the offering to God. It is a sacrifice, a life that is always newly and freshly offered.

In fact, the sacrificial character of the Eucharist calls us to conversion. Vatican II speaks of the royal priesthood exercised through the daily offering of one’s life to Jesus, which I’m sure, is all the more true for us priests- this offering of one’s life, of one’s sacrifice, and of real conversion.

Third, the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ. The bishops highlighted this real presence of the Eucharist and this means regaining that awareness that the Eucharist is not just the tabernacle in a church. Yes, there is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament hidden within the church’s tabernacle and present at Mass, where Jesus is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist.

Now, one very clear challenge of the real presence is to adore the Lord, but another is to find the Lord after the celebration of the Eucharist. It’s a continuous search of the real presence of the Lord in the poor, the abandoned, in people who are suffering, so basically in everyone.

Therefore, the Eucharist is a 24-hour celebration of the real presence of the Lord, because it’s not just accomplished in the church. It happens in every situation involving a neighbor whom Christ places beside me in the present moment of my life.

What is your take on Cardinal Bo’s and Pope Francis’s exhortation for us Filipinos, especially our migrant workers, to take on the role of missionaries? What is its connection to the Eucharist? 

Cardinal Bo called us Filipinos as the new Paul of Tarsus. Indeed, our migrants are sharing their faith though not formally, but through informal life settings. During his homily, he mentioned the dialogue of life going on in many parts of the world, especially in non-Christian countries where Filipinos are missionaries through a dialogue of life. I believe that they have potential and we should be serious about the faith formation of our migrants.

The Church has already been doing something about this through its chaplaincies all over the world where there are Filipinos in government embassies and other communities, and where a certain number of Filipino migrants are present. Priests are assigned to these places for a period of time, especially those connected to a religious institute, for example, religious institutes like the Scalabrinians, are sent to address pastoral problems and take care of the formation of migrants.

In Taiwan, during the Asia Pacific Conference on Migrants, I was surprised how the Church was so concerned about the migrants. She is like a mother. Through these communities and these initiatives, for example that in Taiwan, the Church is also active in running after human traffickers, and they have lawyers to defend these people. These chaplaincies are a silent presence there, but they are doing a lot.

Although it is nice to consider Filipinos as the new Paul of Tarsus, yet another angle to consider is who are the new pharaohs who drive these Filipinos to distant countries? I have had many opportunities during my trips to Rome and other places to be seated beside a migrant, and their first comment was invariably “it’s difficult to be away from one’s family”. In most places where they are sent or where they work, many of them have to adjust to difficult working hours.

They put up with all these harsh conditions and situations out of love for their families. I think if there is one window through which we can see this New Paul in migrants, it would lie in the possibility they have to share important family values, for Filipinos can bear witness to that selfless love for the family, that of giving their life for the good of the family.

So, in a way, there are two areas that we need to consider. First, there is a need to prepare our migrants to become this “new Paul” in the world. How can we prepare them, when what drives them out is economic poverty? Probably when they were in the Philippines, they were just nominal Catholics and Christians.

Do we have programs in our parishes, to prepare those who are leaving for other countries as migrants? It’s a challenge on the grassroots level. Second, we should consider the informal situations where migrants can actually grow in faith. For example, in Rome, as a chaplain for Filipinos, I saw many situations they had to face in front of problems and difficulties.

They asked for advice on what to do and probably, this could be a time for the awakening of their faith, and for understanding better the value of faith in those particular moments. If they are to be the new Paul of Tarsus, we have to consider seriously the faith formation of Filipinos. Otherwise, I am not sure if they can be that new Paul. Therefore, we have to provide every Filipino Catholic the opportunity to encounter Jesus. And the Eucharist is one of the most important moments to encounter Jesus in the parish. Thus, there’s a lot of rethinking to do about being missionaries in the Church.

Interview by Jose Aranas

Fr. Andrew Recepcion is the Director of the Center for the Spirituality of Communion among Diocesan Priests, Deacons and Seminarians in Asia (Scuola Epi) in Mariapolis Peace in Tagaytay. A professor of theology at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay, he is also currently the President of the International Association of Catholic Missiologists.

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