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CAFOD, JUSTICE AND THE EUCHARIST
Being a Christian means many things: the way we live our lives, our attitudes to other
human beings, to the world around us and to ourselves. One way in which Christians express
their belief is through worship. For Catholics this usually means going
to Mass on Sundays. In this country, on any one Sunday, it's
estimated that about one and a quarter million Catholics attend church.
What is the Eucharist ?
The Mass is often referred to as the Eucharist which means Thanksgiving. When we come
together to celebrate the Eucharist as a community, Jesus is present with us in a special
way. By doing what he asked us to do in memory of him, we share in his
life and mission and, at the same time, we thank him for all his many gifts to us.
The words of the Offertory remind us that God works through human effort:
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this
bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for
us the bread of life.
And when we say in the Eucharistic prayer :
Father, hear the prayers of the family you have gathered
here before you. In mercy and love unite all your children
wherever they may be
We remember that the Eucharist is a symbol of our oneness - a
celebration for all people rich and poor, all over the world, and
a sign of our solidarity with each other which crosses national
boundaries and races. The Last Supper was Jesus' final Passover meal that he shared with
his friends before his death. When he took the bread and broke it and shared
it, he asked us to continue to do the same in memory of him.
How does the Eucharist involve doing Justice ?
Remembering what Jesus did at the Last Supper in the `breaking of bread' is a
challenge to us to live the same way today and share bread with all our sisters and
brothers in the world.
Another way of understanding the Eucharist is in the example of service to
others Jesus showed in the washing of the feet of his apostles. John has this story
in his Gospel (Chapter 13) instead of the `breaking of bread' to show what the
Eucharist is really telling us about how we should live.
As stewards of creation, we are obliged to share God's gifts with all people.
"Father, we acknowledge your greatness : all your
actions show your wisdom and love. You formed us in your own
likeness and set us over the whole world to serve you, our creator."(Eucharistic
Prayer IV)
As St. Paul says in his letter to the Christians in Corinth, it is
impossible to celebrate the Eucharist and ignore those in need - the hungry,
the poor, those suffering from oppression.(1 Corinthians.
11)
When we come together to share one bread we are all united as one body - all
part of one world community, and therefore we cannot ignore the needs of others.
Food is one of our most basic needs. Its denial is a source of massive
injustice in the world.
1.2 billion people are regularly hungry, nearly 1/4 of the world's population. The
countries of the South have 75% of the world's people, - but only 30% of the world's food
grains. Enough food is produced to provide every man, women and child in the world with
ample protein and more than 3000 calories a day. The problem is access rather than
shortage of food.
What about CAFOD ?
CAFOD's aim is to express the concern of the Catholic community for the
needs and problems of the Third World. CAFOD works with its partners
throughout the countries of the South to tackle the problems of
poverty, hunger, lack of education, disease and suffering. CAFOD tries
to put into practice the words of the gospel :"to bring the good
news to the poor." (Luke 4:18)
How can all this be done in the liturgy ?
Every celebration of the Eucharist is a sharing for the peace and unity of
all the world. We can express this, for example, by presenting the
results of our Friday Fast day at the Offertory. We can also learn from
the way the communities of the South express common concerns
about their lives in their liturgical celebrations. When we listen
to the voice of the poor, we can then share their experience
in our liturgy, and show our solidarity with them
Other ways of sharing the Third World's richness of experience in faith and hope can
be found in "Celebrating One World", (a resource book on Liturgy and Social
Justice) or "Continent of Hope" ( a resource book of worship from Latin
America). Both are available from CAFOD.
Prayer, fasting and alms-giving have been part of being Christian since early
times (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35) and were linked
together in the teaching of Christ (Matthew 6) CAFOD's Family Fast Day enables us, too, to
link prayer, fasting and alms-giving, and also to help change the lives of the poor.
What else does the Bible have to say ?
The Book of Micah 6:8 "This is what Yahweh (God) asks of you, only this : That
you act justly, That you love tenderly, That you walk humbly with your God."
These three demands tell us `in a nutshell' what God wants of us. Our Christian faith
should be rooted in all three.
Isaiah 58 : 6-8 "The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of
oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.
Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless
poor."
God shows his preference for action for justice rather than empty worship in the
form of fast laws without reference to the lives of others.
Matthew 25 : 31-46 "I was hungry and you fed
me, thirsty and you gave me drink...whenever you
refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me."
Here is the great challenge to us about how we see our lives, in terms of
carrying out our Christian responsibilities. It could be summed up by
saying that we are all judged by our behaviour towards others.
1 Corinthians 11 "Everyone should examine themselves first, and then eat the
bread and drink from the cup...for if you do not recognise the meaning of the Lord's
body, you bring judgement on yourself as you eat and drink."
- In this important passage, Paul emphasises that there can be no true Eucharist
in a community whose members do not love one another. Sharing
a common meal is hypocritical unless accompanied by genuine concern for others.
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