The Banquet of the Eucharist
And the Banquet of Life
Rev. Ronald Kettler Diocese of
The correlation of liturgy with social justice highlights a central principle in Church social teaching: the principle of solidarity.
Solidarity
An expression of the “Catholic image of the Mystical Body.
We are one human family regardless of our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences.
It entails a moral responsibility “to see others not as ‘enemy’ but as ‘neighbor.’
It requires a just social order
Where goods are fairly distributed
The dignity of all is respected
The Eucharist is a privileged sacramental moment when the culture of solidarity is reflected in the sharing of both spiritual gifts and material goods.
In unifying worship and work, the liturgy empowers those sharing in Communion “to work to heal the brokenness of society and human relationships and to grow in the spirit of self-giving to others.” (Economic Justice for All #331)
Pope John Paul II expounds: (Dies Domini, On Keeping the Lord’s day Holy)
The meaning of Sunday as a special time for dedication to “works of charity, of mercy, of apostolic outreach.”
Works of charity, mercy, and apostolic life flow from Jesus’ new commandment, “to love one another “as I have loved you.”
The faithful encounter the joy of the Risen Lord which is linked to the new commandment.
The apostolic tradition confirms the Sunday Eucharist as being lived out as “a moment of fraternal sharing with the poor.”
Eucharist is the place where:
Fraternity becomes solidarity
Where the last are first in the minds and attention of the brethren
Where Christ himself ...through the generous gifts from the rich to the poor… may somehow prolong in time the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. (DD #71)
Eucharist should be a “great school of charity, justice and peace.”
Be a moment of conversion to confront the structures of sin which assault human dignity and entrap impoverished people unjustly. (DD # 73)
Fr. John Coleman, S.J. says that any liturgical
participation demands Christians who unite
the table of the Eucharist with the table of