The Hunger of the WorldCOMMUNION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

MARGARET SCOTT

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Sr. Margaret's Web Page

• Author: The Eucharist and Social Justice, Paulist Press, 2009• Former Director: St. Raphaela Retreat Center, Havertown, PA• Adjunct Faculty: Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA

COMMUNION AS SIGN AND SYMBOL

Sign - points to God’s critique of a world of rich and poor

Sign – points to God’s desire for a world that is structured upon the “common good”

Symbol - added value, richness of communion language and practice & associations we make

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THE “REAL PRESENCE” OF CHRIST Roman Catholic (1300) meaning:

literal transformation of the bread and wine

John Wycliffe (1400): only symbols Martin Luther (1520):

Christ is fully present but no transformation

What does that mean?

CHRIST AS REALLY REAL

Christians meet God in the brokenness and limits of the daily world

The realities of life’s necessities The realities of poverty The realities of privilege Communion connects us to the

realities Christ calls us to address in the worldTop: Image Source: http://newcovenantgroup.com/assets/images/hunger.jpg Bottom: Image Source: http://yummydelicious.com/cdin.us/01pics/ydf/cutekid-bread.jpg

…in the symbols of

Communion

COMMUNION AS FOOD

The love of God for the poor is not a feeling. It is action which sustains life and gives hope.

God is incarnate – really present – in bread, wine, water, rice, beans, corn for those who are desperately hungry.

Current methods of world food production require poorly-paid immigrant labor without legal rights or labor organizing.

Current methods of world food production destroy the ability to sustain the planet. Giant factory farms require massive use of pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation and produce huge amounts of waste and run-off, as well as unnecessary animal suffering.

START HERE: COMMUNION AS DANGEROUS MEMORY Anamnesis (remembering) Remembering Jesus’ prophetic

and healing ministry Remembering Jesus’ execution by

an occupying power and its collaborators

Remembering the resurrection of Jesus as the God’s overcoming of his death Delores Williams: The Resurrection Is God’s ‘Yes!’ to the world’s

“No. Remembering all who suffer Remembering the Jewish Passover as a political liberation Such memories as “dangerous” for oppressive practices

because they reveal the suffering beneath the surface.

Johann BaptistMetz

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COMMUNION AS ANTICIPATORY HOPE Early Xn prayer: Maranatha! (Aramaic) “Come,

Lord Jesus!” Anticipation of reunion in heaven with the Living

Christ Symbols of anticipation:

The heavenly banquet The peaceable realm (kingdom)

Hope for a changed world Hope for one’s own trans-

formation as a participant and follower of Christ

Living “as if” – out of the coming kingdom James Cone – Refusing to be resigned to the world as it is

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EUCHARIST AS COMMUNITY The locally shared meal

Origins as shared dinner, followed by ritual meal (I Corin.10-11)

Becomes celebration at worship in local congregations

The globally shared meal Food and care for all

Themes Intimacy and learning about

each other and the other Solidarity

The unity of the community – global and local

Relinquishing privilege on behalf of the poor

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COMMUNION AS PARTICIPATION Participation in the body of Christ

The body of Christ as the global community Solidarity as unity for justice Solidarity as relinquishing privilege on behalf of

“the least of these” (Matthew 25:40) The poor The politically oppressed The socially marginalized

Solidarity with the earth and its non-human creatures

March during the “solidarity” trade union strike in Communist-controlled Poland, 1970’s1

COMMUNION AS PARTICIPATION

On December 2nd, 1980, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, lay missionary Jean Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford were brutally raped and murdered while serving the poor in El Salvador, by that country's national guard.

Archbishop Oscar Romero had been assassinated the previous March.

Participation in the blood of Christ

Working for justice and peace is neither easy nor safe. Serving the poor is always a political act. Identifying with the

marginalized means that you may be marginalized as well. Solidarity requires recognizing the real risk to oneself: one’s

reputation, health, and life and to those one cares about. The “cost of discipleship” versus “cheap grace” -Dietrich

Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor and resister, hanged by the Nazis in April, 1945

SOME CONNECTIONS AND QUESTIONS

Communion• What emphasis (table fellowship, sacrificial

representation, memorial meal, etc.) do you think is the most important?• How do you understand “real presence”? Do you

think this language is problematic or revelatory? • What are some ways of understanding or

connections that can be made with the language of:• The body of Christ• The blood of Christ

• Give a contemporary example of :• Christian participation in the “body of

Christ”• Christian participation in the “blood of

Christ” • Explain your examples.