Consecrating the World
by Fr. Erasto Fernandez
In the post-Vatican II scene, instead of referring to a ‘consecration’ in the Eucharist with regard to the species of bread and wine we speak of ‘sanctifying’ the gifts. The change of terms is meant to bring out the difference that the elements are not so much ‘set apart’ for sacred use through consecration as ‘filled with the Spirit of God’ – sanctified. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that one of the effects of the Eucharist (which makes present the redemptive work of Jesus) is to ‘consecrate’ the world and all that is in it to the Father. Deeper reflection shows us, though, that here too the meaning of the term ‘consecrate’ is really the same as ‘sanctify,’ or filling the entire universe with the Spirit and presence of God. We try to understand this a little more clearly and deeply.
Sanctify Not Consecrate
The use of the term ‘consecration’ in relationship to the transformation of the elements of bread and wine into Jesus was prevalent since the Middle Ages and has led to a somewhat lopsided emphasis on this central part of the celebration. It was made to stand out from the rest of the Eucharist as being the most important and crucial part, so much so that the Celebrant pronounced the words much more slowly, clearly and audibly, spreading a sense of aura and deep reverence through the entire celebrating community. Great care was taken that no mistake was made – leading some scrupulous priests to repeat the formula over and over again lest there be some un-noticed mistake which would render the entire Eucharist invalid! The faithful too paid very special attention at this juncture, kneeling in profound reverence before the great mystery unfolding before their eyes. But the moment this section was completed, back again they reverted to their casual posture.
Initially, as far as theology goes at least, the emphasis was simply on the total transformation of the bread and wine into Jesus. From the tenth century onwards however, a lot of time and energy was spent on explaining just how this transformation was effected. This preoccupation continued till very recent pre-Vatican times, and the general understanding was that these words (the ‘formula of consecration’ today called ‘the Institution Narrative’) are vested with a very special power, that of transforming the bread and wine into Jesus.
This approach was in keeping with the concerns of the philosophy of the medieval period of history: they derived great satisfaction in determining at which precise moment the transformation took place, which were the exact words that caused the change and so on. These words, therefore, took on an almost magical power and hence we often saw priest-celebrants struggling (with deep moral anxiety) to pronounce the formula correctly, distinctly and audibly, even if the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer was simply mumbled through inaudibly and mechanically. When dealing with God’s action, however, one can readily see that such considerations do not matter much – after all we cannot box God in with a few of our limited mental constructs. It seems far better and wiser to affirm the mystery – the real presence of the Risen Lord and to leave the rest to God.
We recall that the wording of the Institution Narrative is slightly different in each of the four evangelists recounting the Last Supper story. If this was the precise formula which had the power of transforming the elements, then it should have been identically the same in each of the four evangelists. Besides, the emphasis that medieval philosophy placed on this formula fits in with the then prevailing understanding that every entity consisted of both matter and form. In this case the matter was considered to be the elements of bread and wine while the formula was the form. In this way of thinking the formula was certainly worthy of a very special consideration.
Today we rather focus more on the meaning and purpose of this transformation and how it impacts our practical day-to-day living: the what and why more than the how! One thing is for sure that during the Eucharistic Prayer (taken as a whole) Jesus, Risen Lord is wholly and substantially present to us through the elements of bread and wine. We recall that just before the Institution Narrative, we have a prayer (Epiclesis) calling down the Holy Spirit upon the gifts of bread and wine, ‘so that they may become for us the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ - because we celebrate this Eucharist at the command of Jesus himself. Now, this prayer cannot be a mere empty prayer, a wish expressed in the hope that God may fulfill it. Rather, in keeping with Christ’s command we believe that it is an effective prayer, and so are sure that the Spirit does fill and transform the gifts for us, so that we can do the memorial of Jesus as he required of us.
Parallel to this calling down of the Spirit, there is another calling down (epiclesis) after the Institution Narrative, but this time it is upon the assembled community. The prayer now is that the Spirit of God fill the entire community so that it can function more effectively as the Body of Christ during the rest of the day – transforming all that they come in contact with, and ushering people particularly into Covenant with the Father. There is besides the further idea that the Spirit bring us all together in unity, making us one body, one spirit in Christ!
Sanctify by Loving
From this we see that the purpose of calling down the Spirit at the Eucharist is two-fold: to transform the gifts into Jesus, and also to transform us into the living body of the same Jesus. Now this last petition is made not just that we, the chosen few, may enjoy the blessings of the Father. Rather, having called us and now ‘sanctified’ us through his Spirit, the Risen Lord sends us out into the world to ‘consecrate’ or fill with his Spirit everything and everyone we come in contact with. We recall here Jesus’ own priestly prayer made, according to St. John, at the Last Supper itself: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth” (Jn 17:17-19).
We could also recall the story of Jesus healing the demoniac at Gerasa. At the end of the event when the people of the village requested Jesus to leave, the now reformed demoniac who sat at the feet of Jesus requesting him to permit him to accompany him back to the other side. He probably felt that he would not fit in with his own community now that he had become a disciple of Jesus. But Jesus said to him: “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed (Mk 5:19-20).
Infilling with love
And just how would we be able to sanctify the world around us? The two simple means at our disposal are: love and obedience. As we go about our work, after our Eucharistic celebration, we take the love of God that has been poured into our hearts and become instruments allowing that love to work like leaven, wherever we are. As St. Francis of Assisi did, we not only pray but also work to ensure that ‘where there is hatred … we sow God’s love, where there is injury, his pardon, and where there is doubt true faith in him.’ We can do this only to the extent that we have surrendered our selfish interests into God’s hands, allowing him to transform them into resources of love. And here too we follow the prayer of St. Francis: we cannot afford to seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be pardoned as to pardon and to be loved as to love with all our hearts. The ability to do this is precisely what we are gifted with at each Eucharist, because this is precisely the ‘Spirit’ of Christ poured into our lives. As we go about our daily tasks, we seek to implement this spiritual programme of living not for ourselves but for him (Christ) who for our sake died and was raised to life (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
This idea will be reinforced when in a later chapter we speak of the Mission that flows from the Eucharist. All we need to stress here is that the measure and enthusiasm of our working to sanctify the world and all in it will depend on the measure in which we experience God’s blessings personally. It does not take much effort and skill to love and do good to people around us – what we need most of all is a heart emptied of self-absorption. It is our self-concerns that make us blind to the needs of others; again it is our insecurities that make us seek to be filled ourselves first – often at the expense of others leading to injustice and at times violence. To provide room for God’s Spirit to work in the lives of people, all it needs is a kind word in place of a snarl, a smile replacing a frown, a thoughtful reaching out instead of keeping to oneself and looking after one’s own needs. In short, what we need to do is to place ourselves in the shoes of the other and understand the situation through the eyes and feelings of the other person. One cannot easily imagine the extent to which we could be of service to others once we begin to see our reaching out as an expression of our gratitude to God for his numerous blessings.
Through our celebration of the Eucharist we would come to realize that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Having tasted God’s faithful love, we would never fear being in need for the Lord is always faithful to those whom he chooses. Did he not provide for his chosen people as they marched through the desert, even by raining down manna for them? Was he not faithful to Elijah by ordering the ravens to feed him each day, and later the widow to provide for him out of her meager resources? In fact our ideal for daily living would be to live ‘for others.’ Expressed differently this would mean that we always seek to be: ‘a light and not a judge, a model and not a critic, a part of the solution and never a part of the problem.’
Fidelity to our Mission
The second way in which we can help fill the world with God’s Spirit is our loving obedience to the Father in every detail of our lives. Obedience is simply another form of love, for as Jesus reminded us: ‘If you love Me you will keep My commandments.’ Besides, obedience is not possible without selflessness stemming from love. No person with an enlarged or oversized Ego will ever be able to obey another. And so, when we submit and surrender to God’s will for us in every situation, we somehow make his Spirit present in that event. Doesn’t everyone agree that peace, joy, fulfillment, harmony and other such spiritual gifts indicate that we are operating within the realm of the Spirit?
The aspect of sanctifying the universe and everything in it is of paramount importance when we consider all that is happening in the world today. Every page of almost every daily newspaper is full of news of the evil that is perpetrated every second in every part of the world. Doesn’t this give us the picture of a world dominated by evil, a world covered with darkness? How do we bring the light of Christ into such a world, and who is going to do this? This mission is entrusted to us who celebrate Eucharist – for our Eucharist is not just a matter of the twenty or thirty minutes we spend in Church; it must extend to every second of our lives and to every situation we are in. Jesus did not come to earth merely to abide in our Tabernacles and beautiful churches; he wishes to make his abode in the hearts and lives of all people! And for that didn’t he remind us that ‘you are the salt of the earth, the light of the world…’? If salt fails to influence its surroundings, it is of no use at all, and then it is thrown out and trampled under foot. A Christian is a (wo)man with a mission…seeking to fulfill the wish of his Master: ‘I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again (Jn 10:16-17).
Eucharistic Values
As we participate meaningfully in this section of the Eucharist, we cannot but develop a burning thirst for bringing about a positive change in every situation in which we are, of infusing the spirit of Jesus into every nook and corner of our world. We become people with a passion for excellence. Evidently, not all our daily situations are necessarily bad or evil. Yet, even in those that are positive and good, there is always something more that we can introduce, provided we have that thirst that characterized a saint like John Bosco (“Give me souls – take away the rest!”) or are consumed by a hunger like that of St. Paul who said: ‘… for me life is not a matter of wasting words on …’ We realize that in most cases, the situation ends up becoming bad simply because no one dares to step out and do something to change it. We seem to be satisfied with merely grumbling and passing on the buck and the blame. This is true whether it be cleaning up the neighbourhood, or attending to a common telephone line that is not functioning properly, striving to mend broken relationships within the family and in wider circles, or to improving things not working out properly at the parish level.
In almost every case all it takes is just one person who has the courage and proactivity to initiate some change, someone who cares enough to stick his/her neck out and work for the common good, someone who believes that s/he has God’s Spirit within him/her and that he is the main One who will sanctify the world, if only we can be willing instruments in God’s hands. It is true that such activity hardly ever attracts a word of thanks from those who benefit most from it. However, a Christian does not work for gratitude from people – his/her reward is that s/he collaborates with the Risen Lord in making this world a better place to live in. That is his/her mission and contribution flowing from his/her celebration of Eucharist.
If even ten percent of those celebrating Eucharist each Sunday could be made to realize that their Eucharist does not end with the “Go the Mass is ended” but rather spills over into the rest of the day, what a difference would there not be in the parish and wherever Christians are present and active. Experience, however, seems to show that in many cases, it is those who do not celebrate Eucharist, generally people of other faiths, who are more proactive in these matters. Could this be because we Christians seem to want God to do everything for us? We like to receive everything readymade on a platter – and then we exclaim: ‘See how good God is to us!’ We don’t seem to realize that God has chosen us to be disciples precisely because he needs our collaboration to make this world a better place each day, to sanctify it more and more as we go along.
Again, in our efforts to sanctify the world, all we need to do is to make a start, or as the Christopher movement based on a Chinese proverb suggests: ‘it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness!’ Once we make a start, others will definitely join in, even if after quite some time. In our day we have seen how even young college going youth have initiated moves that are a blessing to society, setting aside some of their time and energy and using it for the benefit of others.
It is important to add that in our efforts to make our world a better place or to sanctify it, there is perhaps no need to explicitly use the word ‘God’ as this could drive some persons away and prevent them from collaborating. If any of us are familiar with the writings of Stephen Covey and his associates we would realize how wonderfully he expresses gospel truths in terms that any man of goodwill can accept and practice; seldom does he use the term ‘God’ or explicitly bring religion into his teaching. Further, in all such efforts, we would often need to collaborate with ‘all people of goodwill’ no matter what their religious affiliation. In recent years we have innumerable examples of ‘people power’ – instances showing us how when even simple, illiterate women gather together and decide to work to better their situation, a lot can be done. Why doesn’t our Eucharistic participation bring about and evoke a greater or burning desire to work for such causes? Is it that the Spirit is really inactive in our Christian lives, or could it be that we are not responsive enough to his promptings?
Summarizing all the Eucharistic values that emanate from the second half of the Eucharistic Prayer, we have the following:
- A passion for excellence, changing every situation for the better
- A proactive stance – eager to take the initiative to introduce Eucharistic values in any given situation
- Collaboration with all people of goodwill
- Awareness that the Christian is salt, light and leaven in the world
- Light a candle rather than curse the darkness.
- Take small steps but make a start – in a new direction.
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Copyright © Fr. Erasto Fernandez. All rights reserved.
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